Five takeaways from the Thunder’s narrow loss to San Antonio
By Tony Heim
Free throws are officially a legitimate concern
Who would have guessed that a team with Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony would be 26th in the NBA in free throw percentage? Nobody would have. Because it shouldn’t be happening.
All credit goes to Royce Young for originally diagnosing this problem a little over a week ago:
A double-miss at the line for Paul George, and OKC is 5-9 tonight. Good free throw shooters missing is a symptom of pressing.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) November 11, 2017
The root cause of the free throw fallacy is the same reason why the Thunder fail to convert in crunch-time – they are playing with a sense of urgency that is ultimately negatively affecting them. Since training camp Westbrook, George and Anthony have mentioned how they all have something to prove. While that’s a great mentality to have it’s something that needs to be pushed out of their minds once they’re on the court.
George and Anthony combined went 2-5 in the final five minutes from the line. Steven Adams missed his two attempts as well, meaning Oklahoma City lost five potential points at the end of the game. Free throws are almost solely a mental motion for NBA players – the only reason they are struggling is because they are in their own heads when they get to the line.
The Thunder stars have put the pressure on themselves instead of letting the game come naturally. You see it when they revert to their old styles of play when adversity hits. You see it when they step to the free throw line. It’s easier said than done, but OKC has to calm their high expectations down and focus on becoming a better basketball team every day. The rest will fall in line.