Thunder in the News: Diving deep into last night’s loss

A frustrating loss against an injured Warriors team left most of our main concerns unaddressed. Because of that, we’re spending today’s OKC Thunder in the News searching for our own answers.

OKC Thunder Nation – don’t be too upset with last night’s loss. Sure, the Warriors were playing without Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and a few random role players. But they still had three All-Stars, including the second best player in the world in Kevin Durant.

It’s okay to lose by four to that team. It really is. Especially when almost everybody but your reigning MVP decides they can’t find their shot all night.

Westbrook wasn’t the issue last night

I’m notoriously hard on Russell Westbrook but I have nothing bad to say about his play last night. His 6:6 assist-to-turnover ratio doesn’t bother me one bit, solely because the rest of his teammates failed to properly back up their superstar. The title of Royce Young’s recap is “Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors good enough to let Thunder beat themselves.”

The only thing I would change is including an ‘(except Russell Westbrook)’ clause. Russ didn’t deserve to lose last night, but alas…

"It was clear the Thunder needed an adrenaline jolt, and that’s something Westbrook specializes in."

Paul George steps up and takes the blame

This is exactly what needed to happen. George was a disaster last night, yet he wasn’t afraid to speak about it afterwards. I provided both of his clips for you because it’s that important.

In the first one he holds himself accountable for not playing up to Russ’ level tonight. Great – we all appreciate that message PG. And I promise I’m not being sarcastic.

It’s the second one, however, that is the interesting tidbit: PG isn’t comfortable with his shooting mechanics. It appeared that way last night as George went 2-10 on non-three point attempts. He missed multiple wide open looks that he tends to hit. George has suffered from forearm tightness during the season, so there’s a chance that’s re-appearing. I can’t tell you what’s going on, but I can tell you that a mechanical concern is worrisome when we’re only three games from the Playoffs.

It’s a good thing George has three days to try and figure it out.

In-depth look at how each individual played

And finally we’re taking a look at our own in-depth recap from the game, brought to you by Wil Harrington. Wil made multiple fantastic points – my favorite is featured below.

"Who would have guessed that the nervous energy of the playoff hunt would be completely absent this season. Such is the mystery surrounding this team."

Next: Thunder must improve free throw shooting before the Playoffs

That’s it for today’s issue of Thunder in the News. It wasn’t the result we hoped for/expected, but such is the wonderful world of sports fandom. Three days off means Oklahoma City has an opportunity to fix a few problems before they travel to Houston to play the Rockets. As always, Thunderous Intentions will have you covered with all the OKC content your heart desires.