OKC Thunder film room: defensive keys to shut down Trail Blazers offense

Let offense be your defense

Oklahoma City can play at speeds many other teams simply cannot keep pace with. In that alone, turning opportunistic defensive turnovers into fast-break offense can be a key strategy to shut down the Trail Blazers’ offense.

In the following clip, Russell Westbrook successfully swat blocks a Damian Lillard layup from behind. Paul George snags the rebound and gets the ball back to Westbrook who finds an open Raymond Felton for a dagger 3-pointer. The block was impressive, the vision to find Felton for the shock and awe 3-point shot was excellent, and the smooth bucket from Felton was great.

However, the best part of the play is that bucket put the Thunder up by 20 points. There’s nothing like letting your offense demoralize the opponent into submission.

Portland answered with a 3-pointer of their own, but Felton made sure to end the half on a high note with the following play. Felton capitalized on a poor pass from Aminu to Lillard with a solo transition bucket to end the second frame and keep the Thunder’s momentum rolling.

It’s clear the Thunder’s up-tempo pace and offensive success had worn down the Trail Blazers both physically and mentally, preventing their offense from getting traction as the clock ran out.

Like most sports, basketball is simply more fun to play and watch when your team is dominating the opponent. With a tough test in containing Portland’s number 3 ranked offense, OKC needs to match and surpass their pace with high-volume scoring of their own. Once the Thunder find a rhythm that works for them they need to keep their foot on the accelerator and maximize the demoralizing effects it can have.

There’s a lot of good to be said for interrupting an opponent’s confidence and concentration, and the above two clips reveal that’s exactly what the Thunder need to do to establish and maintain a comfortable lead from the get-go. Overwhelming the opposition with an overpowering offense can be OKC’s best defensive asset if executed properly.