The OKC Thunder continue to hurt themselves. After letting the 100-99 loss to the Boston Celtics marinate for at least 24 hours, the fury Oklahoma City fans feel is real.
Tuesday night’s collapse in Boston was the perfect microcosm for the 2017-2018 OKC Thunder season. Presented with an opportunity to move within one game of the three seed following Portland‘s 115-111 loss to the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City imploded in the final 90 seconds. Poor decision making by Jekyll and Hyde superstar Russell Westbrook, wasted timeouts by Billy Donovan and bad free throw shooting by Carmelo Anthony essentially uppercut themselves.
Ugh… when will it end?
Melo, Corey Brewer and Paul George each hit triples inside the last four minutes. They moved the ball, found the open man and drained shots after throwing up bricks for 43 minutes. Steven Adams even stepped to the line to hit two straight free throws. Up six with 26 seconds remaining, the game was theirs. Yet, they found a way to lose.
Westbrook’s Why Not motto should not apply in this situation
What was Westbrook thinking pulling up from three with 1:04 remaining? As much as I envy Russ’ game, one has to wonder how he still has these brash moments? A 30-foot three from a 29 percent shooter is NONSENSICAL. Why on earth did George only shoot twice in the final frame?
PG shot 5-8 from three from three. My goodness, give the ball up. Secondly, why let Terry Rozier hit two threes in your face? He allowed Rozier to casually walk the ball up and jack up a three. At times Westbrook doesn’t show the basketball IQ of a college player, let alone an NBA one.
Melo can’t hit shots or free throws anymore?
It’s easy to take aim at Melo for missing BOTH clutch free throws. I will NOT give you a pass for that. Melo is one of the best scorers in NBA history, however, looks worse than Adams at the line from time to time. He has been the bane of every Thunder fans existence all season long.
I’ll give credit where credit is due. He played strong defense, did well against Aron Baynes and competed with Greg Monroe better than Patrick Patterson. Anthony made two big triples and gave a beautiful pass to Brewer in the corner which resulted in a three. Melo played a solid game up until the free throw implosion.
Paul George… Where you at?
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I will never understand why PG did not have the ball more in the fourth. He was OKC’s best shooter from distance and was the only one in any rhythm.
So why not DEMAND the ball.
PG13 is a star. When he has it going he should have the ball in his hands – George’s passive nature is truly a detriment to his game. When you have it going, push Russ aside. We want you with the ball PG, not this version of Westbrook.
He – along with Billy Donovan – also has to understand that he is OKC’s best free throw shooter. Demand the ball and tell everyone else to back off. Please.
What were you thinking Billy?
My biggest gripe is with coach Donovan. He sat the OK3 to end the third quarter to allow Boston to cut an eight deficit to one. The bench was awful all night long, yet Donovan elected to continue his ridiculous rotations.
Where is his feel for the game? On the final Thunder possession, why send PG13 up the line on the final play with Adams when he is the best free throw shooter in the clutch?
Oklahoma City left the TD Garden with two timeouts – what are we going to do with those? This has to stop Billy, you’re killing us.
Final thought
This is a mellow rant about this game. I can’t write what I really want to say but I am sure Thunder fans know its colorful. OKC welcomes Miami and Portland to Chesapeake Arena in their next two games.
Please don’t pull an OKC Thunder this week (lose to Miami but beat Portland). You’re going to give me – along with many other Oklahoma City fans -a heart attack.