In the final frame, the OKC Thunder went scoreless for over five minutes allowing 17 unanswered Rockets points — costing them Game 2.
Game 2 of the first-round series resulted in another loss for the OKC Thunder with a concerning situation arising when it comes to the offense. There were odd segments in the game where neither team scored but the opening of the fourth quarter was the most concerning.
After Chris Paul scored at 11:48 to give the Thunder a three-point lead (80-77), OKC failed to score again for over five minutes. Meanwhile, the Rockets, with Harden on the bench for the majority of that time amassed 17 points essentially putting the game out of reach.
How the unit on the floor and Donovan addressed those five-plus minutes is concerning. More importantly, how they address what they learned and apply to the series moving forward will define whether the OKC Thunder can get back in this series.
OKC Thunder offensive woes
Billy Donovan spoke post-game to the zone assembled media on his thoughts following the Game 2 loss.
When asked why Steven Adams didn’t get any shots in the second half the coach pointed to how he was defended. Donovan also noted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander only got eight shots in the first game but got many more opportunities in this match. Donovan said Steven didn’t and that the OKC Thunder is focused on taking the best shot and taking what the defense gives them.
While fundamentally I understand and agree with taking the best shot this answer raises red flags. Imagine if Mike D’Antoni said James Harden got four shots because that’s what the defense gave us. It wouldn’t happen — period.
And perhaps that’s part of the problem with the Thunder offense. When they have their clutch time crew on the floor they tend to focus more on the shooters and the drives so it’s understandable why Adams isn’t typically the guy touching the ball. But, this is a clear advantage for the Thunder they should be exploiting Houston with.
Even when Nerlens Noel is on the court there isn’t any Rockets player with the height to stop him.
5:14 of scoreless OKC Thunder ball
Looking back at when the game was lost for the Thunder the most obvious segment occurred at the start of the fourth quarter. During a five-plus minute segment (11:38 to 6:34) not a single point was scored by the Thunder.
The lineup on the court for the majority of those five minutes was:
- Chris Paul – 6’1″
- Dennis Schroder – 6’1″
- Abdel Nader – 6’5″
- Darius Bazley – 6’8″
- Steven Adams – 6’11”
Over the course of the five-plus minutes, Schroder and Paul took and missed three shots each including layups for both players and Bazley who also missed a shot. (1).
In that same period, the Rockets scored SEVENTEEN points!
The Rockets players on the court at the time didn’t even include James Harden. They had a unit consisting of:
- Eric Gordon – 6’3″ (Harden – 6’5″ subbed in at 7:23)
- Austin Rivers – 6’3″
- Danuel House -6’6″
- Jeff Green – 6’8″
- P.J. Tucker – 6’5″
Donovan didn’t respond for over four and half minutes (until 7:23) of the quarter inserting:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander -6’5″
- Lu Dort – 6’3″
- Danilo Gallinari – 6’10”
- Nerlens Noel – 6’10”
- while keeping Paul on the floor and replaced him with Schroder at 6:43
Donovan who used a timeout at the 10:04 minute mark when the score was 80 all probably didn’t want to use another so soon, but this is a playoff game the team needed to win so perhaps he should have.
While the Rockets unit is arguably one of their better defensive units look at the heights of those players.
Which begs the question — why not get the ball into the paint? Sure if there are two or three guys collapsing onto Adams then he can toss it out because that means there is a wide-open shooter(s) on the perimeter. But to not try to figure out how to get Adams the ball at all is to avoid your advantage.
There was a point in the first quarter when Gallo was guarded by House and simply shot over him because of his height difference. This is what it’s difficult to understand — why during that five minutes didn’t Adams get a touch? Or Bazley? Moreover, if you’re going to have Nader on the court then why not get him a shot?
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While the Rockets are small – the Thunder played right into their hands by allowing their shortest (granted – talented) players to take all the shots.
Adams specifically is baffling. Several times yesterday when they got the big man the ball he wasn’t even in the paint. he was posting up some 12 to 15 feet away from the basket. That’s not ideal either. I’m sure part of it is for floor spacing. Still for as strong as these Rockets players are for their size (and PJ Tucker is pound for pound perhaps the strongest in the NBA) they don’t have the size or strength to deal with Adams.
I would expect Mike D’Antoni to figure out how to get Harden the ball if the entry pass to him was cut off or if he was being picked up full court. Similarly, I would expect Donovan to figure out ways to get Adams deeper in the paint and scoring opportunities. If the Rockets foul – GREAT let’s get Tucker and Covington in foul trouble. That means the Rockets will have to use their less efficient defenders and go deeper into the bench.
Although it makes sense to capitalize on the guards and talent of SGA, CP3, and Schroder, similarly, Donovan should work on getting Gallinari, Bazley, Adams, and Noel more shots because the Rockets simply don’t have the personnel to defend them.
Ultimately, it’s a simple principle – you can teach a lot of things — but you can’t teach height!
Chris Paul is one of the best at throwing up lob passes – he made a living on it in LA. It’s time the Thunder pull out those tricks and use them against the Rockets.
To get more insights on the game check out our post-game grades here and our three takeaways here.