OKC Thunder Best Reserve:
Billy Donovan needs to find this man more minutes. The last two outings, Noel has impressed with his hustle and ability to block shots yet Donovan pulls the big man in favor of Adams. While I usually have no qualms with playing Adams the bulk of the minutes, when he’s not firing give Noel his minutes. He is a starter in this league and needs time to strut his stuff.
Nerlens was impressive tonight in 12 minutes of action, posting five points, four rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Best Opponent:
Despite his name being in the middle of trade rumors, KCP had a fantastic game scoring the ball posting 25 points on 6-14 from the field, 5-11 from three and 8-10 from the line. Like the Thunder, LA’s offense was as anemic as ever and KCP provided the necessary scoring punch alongside Brandon Ingram.
Final Thoughts
While Oklahoma City did its best impression of throwing a game they should’ve dominated, they got there in the end. The Thunder’s offense sputtered all night long and while we continue to blame the Brodie, OKC’s collective offensive effort was terrible.
Here are five interesting points I took from the game:
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- Westbrook’s lack of respect from the officials is astounding. In the second quarter of tonight’s game, Russ was taken out on a drive by Lonzo Ball who was somehow credited with a block while JaVale McGee hacked Westbrook two plays later as he went up for the poster slam.
- Why did Donovan opt to go with Terrance Ferguson in crunch time when Abdel Nader was cooking? I am not advocating for Nader to take Ferguson’s starters minutes due to TFerg’s exceptional defensive tenacity but offensively, Nader gives OKC a playmaker and shooter for floor spacing purposes.
- Nerlens Noel needs to see a larger chunk of minutes and must share the floor with Westbrook. Noel is an athletic machine and Dennis Schroder’s lob pass is something to be desired. The Brodie is a better distributor of the ball and the young big man needs to be fed above the rim. 12 minutes tonight is not enough for Noel. Donovan needs to do a better job distributing minutes and should look to play Nerlens 15-20 minutes.
- Paul George is the real deal. While he carries the burden offensively, he does very well defensively and looks set to be even better when Andre Roberson returns.
- Steven Adams needs to go up hard and slam the ball down. The big Kiwi continues to go up soft and blow bunnies at the rim. At seven-feet tall, 265 pounds, Adams needs to be slamming it down on people’s heads instead of these cute lay-up attempts.
For the full box score visit ESPN.com. Check back tomorrow for five takeaways.
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