OKC Thunder Canadian duo Game 2 efforts squandered: 3 – takeaways

OKC Thunder squanders young duo’s efforts as Rockets shooting proves insurmountable. Three takeaways provide insight.

They were so close, yet still so far. That’s probably the best way to describe the OKC Thunder game 2 loss to the Rockets. After a much-improved effort in the first half, stagnant offense and a tenacious Rockets team proved too difficult.

With Russell Westbrook due to come back soon, it won’t get any easier. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible for OKC to come back.

While it is disappointing to see the team go down, there were some positives to take away from the game. Highlighting the young squad’s talent and signs of improvement in moving the ball and aggression on defense.

OKC Thunder – three takeaways from Game 2:

OKC Thunder Canadian duo – best performers:

I’m sure many can relate to the fact that my favorite part of the entire game was seeing Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander play their hearts out. Despite the disappointment of another loss which could have easily gone the Thunder’s way, it reminds us of the franchise’s bright future.

The Canadian duo came out firing from the outset. SGA made up for his quiet performance in game 1 by recording a game-high 31 points, adding six rebounds, two assists and a trio of 3-pointers.

As for Dort, Jeff Van Gundy couldn’t have described his game better. He raved about Dort on ESPN calling him an elite defender and saying how he’s got the makings of a player on the NBA All-Defensive team. Steve Jones Jr. served up a perfect example on Twitter.

While locking down on James Harden, Dort left the NBA’s leading scorer bewildered. This led to Harden going five of 16 from the floor. Dort finished with eight points, two rebounds, a block, and two 3-pointers.

This game just reinforced that one thing Houston doesn’t have an answer for is Lu Dort.

Houston raining threes made them unstoppable:

The Rockets were shooting threes from every corner. Seven of their players knocked down multiple threes and when you have that many pure scorers on your team it’s never good for the other side.

Though it is important to note that the shooting percentage from this spot isn’t much of a difference between both teams’, it’s just that the Rockets shoot way more.

One astounding stat shows that the Rockets have attempted 108 3-pointers across these first two matches and have made 39 of them.

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• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Throughout the game, there were many missed shots and pointless possessions that cost the Thunder big time. They are certainly capable of challenging Houston in this area, but only with everyone stepping up and making the Rockets’ work in what they excel in. Hopefully, we will see that in game 3. TI’s Tamberlyn Richardson discusses this more in her story on keys to victory over the Rockets. 

Chris Paul takes responsibility:

It’s not often you’ll finish watching the Thunder play and say that Chris Paul had a quiet game. I mean, he’s CP3.

But after game 2, Paul admitted himself that “I gotta do more, straight up it’s that simple.” Despite this, you’ve got to mention his efforts on the boards, pulling down six rebounds and making a block.

You get the feeling that CP3 won’t let up. He will fight until the very end and perhaps this is just a small part of the bigger story coming out of this series. If this clutch season is anything to go by, Paul has still got so much left to give.

It’s not over and we’re still remaining positive – so still #ThunderUp