Thunder in the News is a daily post keeping you updated on everything OKC Thunder. We’re still dealing with the Timberwolves two days later.
Good news Thunder Nation – we’re one day away from hosting the Pacers/(hopefully) moving back to .500. During this two-day break we’ve had time to hear from the league about the final play and hear from basketball minds about the Thunder’s crunch-time play. Most importantly, the Thunderous Intentions staff playing their first Match Game of the season.
Two-minute report shows two missed calls on final play
Of course the NBA admitted fault in Sunday night’s letdown. The worst part is there was an additional violation that nobody saw:
"Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau appeared to signal for a timeout after Anthony’s bucket. But the Wolves didn’t have a timeout remaining."
Oklahoma City crawled their way back from a disappointing first three quarters and had a lead with five seconds left. There was chaos on the court. But that doesn’t mean the referees have to get caught in it. This happens all the time in NBA games – it’s something the league needs to address.
Breaking down the Thunder’s crunch-time possessions
A couple writers did breakdowns of the first Thunder crunch-time game of the season. Jeff Siegel from The Step Back did a great job looking at the last two minutes while Jack Maloney from CBS Sports analyzed the final five minutes. We’ll feature Maloney’s solely because of the extra three minutes of content.
I agree that the Thunder don’t necessarily want Russ taking seven shots in five minutes. But when they’re going in the way they were Sunday you don’t want him passing up open shots. Donovan should try to incorporate more off-ball movement instead of sticking George and Melo in the corners. We saw that on a couple possessions, which is a good sign for a team’s first clutch situation. Now it’s about doing that on every possession.
"Overall, the Thunder’s first crunch time outing was pretty solid. The outcome was nearly perfect, but there were some problematic aspects along the way that may need to be addressed at some point before they become bigger problems."
Thunderous Intentions’ first match game of the season
And for those that want to step away from the buzzer-beater, I present to you Thunderous Intentions’ first Match Game of the season. If you’re new to the site, Jeremy Lambert grabs six staff members and two randoms. Some times they’re writers from other sites, some times they’re his family members. It’s really a great time.
"Senthil gets on the board with two points. That’s two more points than Andre Roberson will score in the next five games. It’s on Jeff."
That’s it for Tuesday’s edition of Thunder in the News. Check out Thunderous Intentions for all of our player grades, takeaways and film rooms from the first three games of the season.