OKC Thunder: 5 takeaways offer film on how to fix what’s wrong after game 2 loss

Oklahoma City used 11 players in the loss but minute allocations remain a huge question mark. PG lead the way with 38 minutes, Steven Adams played 33, Abrines with 32 minutes and Schroder spending 30 minutes on court. While I don’t necessarily have a problem with George, Adams and Schroder’s time on court, the distribution of minutes to others on the roster is confusing.

Noel played just 15 minutes despite adding a jolt of energy early in the first quarter. The Thunder were flat, lacking communication on the defensive end which resulted in a barrage of open shots and a quick 16-point deficit. When Noel checked in with six minutes remaining in the first period, defense tightened straight away and the Thunder began to chisel away at the Clips big lead. Despite this, Noel went on to only play nine more minutes across three quarters and total just 15 minutes for the game.

49 minutes between Abrines and Ferguson is too many. Both struggled on defense and TFerg’s shot isn’t remotely close to going in. Despite being unfairly criticized in his performance against GS in the season opener (Thunder fans forgot Ferguson was a net neutral in 27 minutes guarding Klay Thompson), TFerg was terrible against the Clippers overall. Abrines only attempted 10 shots and didn’t score a single point in the second half.

Patterson and Grant must share the floor together. As it stands, neither one can effectively play without the other. Pat lacks athleticism but is a very good 3-point shooter while Grant is athletic but can’t hit the right side of a barn. This notion that Grant can’t play the small forward is baloney. The 25 year-old is the definition of a switchable defender and there’s little doubt that he can play on the wing. Donovan must play these two together for periods and balance their minutes around 23-25 minutes per night.

What happened to Abdel Nader, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Deonte Burton? OKC worked hard to create depth on its wings yet none have seen the floor. Nader is touted as Oklahoma City’s best shooter within the organization and TLC is a big, athletic guard with two years of NBA experience. Burton made a lot of noise in Summer League and preseason, showing an uncanny ability to create offense for himself off the dribble. He isn’t afraid of the moment and his play was worth a shot with OKC struggling to score the rock.

In case you’ve forgotten:

With Schroder and PG struggling, why not try something different? Going back to the same players and hoping for a different outcome is the definition of insanity. Donovan needs to be more creative and try different players if things are stuck in mud.