OKC Thunder fall flat in Game 1 vs. Rockets: player grades

OKC Thunder Starting Frontcourt

If you wondered why Lu Dort replaced Terrance Ferguson this game offered the answers. It’s not that TFerg doesn’t try or that he isn’t capable. However, he is not a starting level guard. He’s young enough that he could potentially rise to that mark. But, he had a full offseason and lengthy hiatus to improve his game and yet there is no evidence he did.

Whether he starts or comes off the bench he’s never aggressive offensively outside of one or two games each season. In this match, Ferguson had his hands full as the primary defender on James Harden. No one is going to stop him although Dort did a great job limiting him earlier this season.

He hit two of three 3-pointers, but those were the only shots he took and he doesn’t add much else (one rebound and one assist).

What is infuriating is Harden didn’t just score 37 points he did in on an effective 12 of 22 and hit 6 of his 13 triples but Ferguson had a single personal foul.

If he’s not going to be more aggressive scoring and isn’t going to stop or limit James then use some of your fouls and be physical with Harden. I’d rather see JH at the line than jacking up 3-pointers and getting into a rhythm.

On the surface, it looks like Danilo Gallinari had an amazing game. He led the OKC Thunder with 29 points on a highly efficient 9 of 17. Gallo added three rebounds, three assists and a block.

But when you dive a little deeper you’ll find his defense was an issue. This small ball scheme of the Rockets puts Gallo in an awkward position where he was often put in the pick and roll or the Rockets worked the ball so he ended up being the man on Harden. That’s not a great matchup for the forward because Harden either sails by him or uses his patented step back to create space and put up a 3-pointer.

It puts Billy Donovan in a bit of a quandary because he either sticks with his best offensive weapon or elects to switch things up to become more defensive. The problem is no one could stop Harden on this day which might be more on Donovan’s defensive scheme than on any individual.

The Big Kiwi did everything asked of him posting a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds with two assists. The problem is Steven Adams has no one typical to his position on the other side. That means the Thunder may need to rely on Adams to do what he’s never been asked to do before – become the primary scorer.

It’s hard to give anyone an ‘A’ in a game lost by 15 points. Paul and Adams come the closest and I did eventually give CP3 the A. Ultimately, they need to be the factor that wins OKC the game to get the A or A+.