OKC Thunder 8 most costly losses of 2017-18 season
By Alex Mcewen
March 20th, at Boston Celtics
Coming in at number one, and by this scribes judgement merits the worst loss on this list. Losing to the Celtics is nothing to hang your head about, it is the manner in which the Thunder did it which made this particular loss sting the most.
The OKC Thunder held a six point lead with 24-seconds to go, then the catastrophic collapse happened.
- The Celtics call timeout, Jayson Tatum hit a layup.
- Terry Rozier fouls Westbrook, Russ hit 1-2 at the line.
- Rozier hits a three on Celtic’s next offensive play
- Marcus Morris fouls Anthony
- Melo missed both free throws.
- Celtics call timeout trailing by two.
- Morris hits a dagger three with one second left.
- Thunder calls a timeout
- Russ get ball on inbound
- Russ shoots and misses a three.
- Game over.
The Celtics trailed by 5 with 16.8 seconds to go and won.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 21, 2018
Entering today, teams were 0-884 this season when trailing by 5 or more points in the final 20 seconds of the game. pic.twitter.com/pgZ87K2gbv
Everything that could possibly go wrong for the Thunder went wrong and everything that could possibly go right for the Celtics went right. Had the Thunder made just one more foul shot they would have won the ball game.
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Small details such as foul shooting, blocking out, and getting back on defense all affect the outcome of a game. The Thunder pay very little attention to the small details which impact the game.
These bad habits are not going away in the 79th game, as they were formed in the first 78 contests.
At best the team can minimize these costly mistakes. Yet, there is no evidence to expect that on a consistent basis.
There you have it Thunder Nation the eight most costly losses of the season. Whether it was missed calls, lackadaisical effort, questionable coaching decisions, or bad habits the result was still the same a costly loss.
Moving forward, three games is clearly a small fraction of the season. Still, as they say, there is no time like the present to start building great habits. Although there are the lapses outlined above, fans also got glimpses of a potential powerfully, lethal two-way team. With no other option the OKC Thunder need to bring an A plus effort to Houston, Miami and versus Memphis.
Let’s hope come next Wednesday, those eight losses remain the worst of the season, because that will mean OKC are prepping for their first round series.
That’s it for me today Thunder Nation, have a good weekend and stay with Thunderous Intentions for our game day coverage as the Thunder face the Rockets in H-Town.