Player grades: OKC Thunder ousted by LA for second time in week

Player Grades

OKC Starting Rotation:

I know Felton has often been the recipient of our best reserve award and  he’s deserved it. But, I need to go on the record here and get something off my mind. There are games where Felton goes into a mode of not looking to involve his teammates. As soon as he gets the ball it’s obvious the only number he’s calling is his own.

When Westbrook and Felton share the court he doesn’t commit this larceny. But, with an all reserve line it occurs at least once every three games.

Without either Russell Westbrook or Carmelo Anthony in tonight Felton needed to put Josh Huestis and Patrick Patterson in a position to succeed. It was his (and Paul George’s role) to manage that. Ultimately they both failed.

To that point, of the 19 shots taken in the first quarter 12 were taken by George (8) and Felton (4). The first shot taken by someone other than these two was at 6:49 (Huestis). Steven Adams didn’t get a shot until 6:44 and it was because he grabbed an offensive rebound. Patterson didn’t even get a shot attempt.

By the end of the first quarter the OKC Thunder had four assists; one each by Patterson, Adams, Felton and Abrines. In this scribes humble opinion it should’ve been Felton and George’s responsibility to initiate ball movement and get Adams, Patterson and Huestis rolling. As a result, the team as a whole never found a rhythm and it cost OKC the game.

Tough call on Huestis because he busts his behind on defense, but his good (which is very good) comes in fits and spurts. Again, it feels like he needs to be more aggressive offensively. This is partly accomplished via player movement, cuts and passing.

So, his grade isn’t worse because that was up to George and Felton to get him into the game. It’s also hard to ridicule someone who got just three shots. Furthermore, Huestis was the only positive differential on the entire team. Of the starters Patterson was second with a minus 12.

Recently I heard a coach complain about his team’s loss and although that squad had almost pulled off the victory they fell short by four points. They were facing a team they should’ve theoretically beat. But, like most teams it’s not quite as easy getting up for the games versus lesser competition as it is teams seen as targets.

The coach said “how you start a game, is how you will finish a game.” At the time, I thought it was a rather simplistic way of addressing the situation, but it did have some merit.

Tonight, that statement rang true, particularly with Paul George. Despite leading the OKC Thunder in scoring (29) and rebounds (9) he set the tone early. Four turnovers in the first quarter alone and he took 12 attempts from deep. Had George been lights out from the perimeter perhaps I could understand it better. Although George started hot, he needed to involve his teammates first. Not establishing their rhythm first was his greatest error.

In the end when Westbrook is off the court (or in this case not playing) the team needs George to lead them. So, while George had an impressive personal stat line in front of his home town, the team faltered. For that reason alone his grade took a hit.

This one pains me because I’ve ranted all season about putting Patterson in the starting rotation or at a very minimum having him close games with the starters. Patterson was 0-6 tonight, but again he didn’t get one shot in the opening frame.

Hard for a player to build any momentum when they never know if they’ll get a shot attempt or more than 12 minutes a game. For now, I’ll stick with my suggestion he start now that Roberson is lost.

In terms of this game, Patterson did many of the little things that don’t show up on the box score such as setting screens, deflecting balls, starting the ball movement via quick passes and helping on defense. I still want to see Patterson get consistent minutes (and Billy Donovan – can that number be at least 20-25  per game – not 12 please). Ideally, those minutes would be as a starter, or at very worst have him play with the starters to close games.

Patterson made some big plays in this game. He drew a charge on Julius Randle early in the third and made life difficult for Ingram stopping him from an absolute break out game. As soon as Patterson was shifted off Ingram he scored back to back treys (sorry Alex Abrines – just saying).

This grade might seem a tad high, but “feed the big dog” should’ve been the mandate from the tip. For Adams not to get a shot until mid first quarter was ridiculous. His shot may not have been falling as much as Thunder fans would like but he still got to the line eight times, scored 13 points and snared nine rebounds (with 7 offensive boards).

Scary moment at start of third quarter when Ingram fouled Adams under the basket and his leg buckled under him. Adams sat in the paint for close to 30 seconds with his teammates gathering around him to make sure he was okay. Thankfully he was able to carry on, but that was a hold your breath moment.