Five takeaways from the Thunder’s narrow loss to San Antonio
By Tony Heim
Another heartbreaking crunch-time loss puts things in perspective for the OKC Thunder – the recipe for success is right in front of them.
It’s not time to panic yet. But it’s officially time to start worrying. The Oklahoma City Thunder lost their seventh game of the season in the last five minutes, falling to the San Antonio Spurs 104-101. The true tragedy comes in the fact that the Thunder failed to capitalize on yet another 20+ point lead.
While we’re still a little under 1/5 of the way through the regular season, this trend is worrisome. OKC started the game perfectly – they locked down San Antonio on defense and played the same pressing basketball on the other end. Instead of settling for contested, isolation mid-range jumpers, Oklahoma City’s offensive stars attacked the basket and kicked to stretch out the Spurs’ defense. Once San Antonio began mounting their comeback everything changed.
Instead of moving the ball and working for each other, OKC’s stars reverted back to their old style of play. Russ began jacking up contested jumpers with the hopes that he’d catch fire. Carmelo called for the ball in the post every possession. While they were still scoring points, it wasn’t with the efficiency they had experienced in the first quarter.
That’s the problem. For their entire careers Carmelo Anthony and Paul George have not had the luxury of playing with equally-talented offensive weapons. When times get rough they understandably revert to what they know best. But Westbrook? He’s played with an offensive superstar that left him in part because of this exact problem. I’m almost at the point where I’m not sure he will ever be able to change his style of play.
The good news (yes there is a small silver lining in this) is that the Thunder could/should have won that game. They missed crunch-time free throws. Melo was 1/8 of an inch from hitting a three and not a two in the final seconds. It’s the small things that win close basketball games, and OKC is failing to win those little battles through the first 15 games.
Am I concerned? Yes. Am I throwing in the towel on the season? No. The Thunder still have 67 regular season games to work out the kinks. Hopefully they start with the next five points I’m about to make.