OKC Thunder: 3 tweaks Billy Donovan can make to win Game 3 vs. Rockets

Three specific in-game related tweaks OKC Thunder bench boss Billy Donovan can adjust to increase the potential for victory.

Among the feel-good stories of the 2019-20 NBA season, the OKC Thunder rank right near the top. Preseason no one expected this team to be in the mix for a playoff seed let alone coming down to the final game of the season to decide if they would win home court.

When the trades of Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Jerami Grant occurred most in the fan base and media assumed the Thunder would embark on a path toward rebuilding and (gasp) tanking.

Instead, this team did what it’s done all year and kept surprising us. First, the club steadily ascended finding chemistry among each other on and off the court. The youngsters thrived, the veterans experienced a career renaissance and the supporting cast embraced their roles, so much so, that some are award candidates now (Dennis Schroder – Sixth Man of the Year).

As all the offseason moves snapped into place certainly, no one In Thunder Nation would’ve guessed Billy Donovan would be honored as co-winner for Coach of 2019-20. The fan base was bewildered by the constant first-round exits and many wanted someone to be held responsible.

The thing is Sam Presti made the correct choice to retain Donovan for this season. His relationship with Chris Paul and more importantly Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is strong. He and his coaching team are among the best at first recognizing talent and then developing it. With the future emphasis focused on that type of development, it makes sense to have a coach of Donovan’s ilk at the helm.

Three adjustments Billy Donovan should make

Finding mismatches:

If there is one pronounced flaw in Donovan’s checklist of qualities it is his ability to adapt. The between game adjustments can be improved via a concerted effort to review how other teams handle that portion of the process and talking to other coaches to learn their process.

The more difficult thing to change is in-game adjustments. Those situations are more reliant on gut instincts and precision time-sensitive decisions.

To be fair, there are less than a handful of coaches who excel in this area. A great example is Game 2 between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.

The Nets led for most of that game, but late in the match Nurse who kept searching for a lineup that could breakthrough resulted in five players who finally did that and those five players had spent all of two minutes on the court all season.

Timeouts to shift momentum:

Rick Carlisle and Erik Spoelstra are two of the best at stopping momentum shifts and creating successful plays for timeout situations.

In a review of Game 2, Billy Donovan’s lapse in a critical stage of the game with snap time decisions can be cited as potentially costing the Thunder the contest.

Donovan called a timeout when the Rockets tied the game at 80, two minutes into the fourth quarter but then couldn’t afford to use another timeout immediately after and that resulted in a 17-0 run (14-0 after the timeout).

The other error was tied to the same scoreless segment. Donovan either needed to call play options with a high degree of success or sub in players that could change the momentum and put points on the board.

More specifically, it’s looking for matchups that the Thunder have an advantage. If Darius Bazley, Danilo Gallinari, Nerlens Noel, Mike Muscala

, or Nerlens Noel are on the court they have a height advantage over almost every Rockets player.

Timely substitutions:

When the OKC Thunder bench boss finally made substitutions, the Rockets led by 12 points and would score two more to lead by 14.

There were approximately six minutes left in the game and in that timeframe the Thunder outscored the Rockets 18-17.  Therefore if the Thunder had stopped that momentum swing immediately their chances of winning Game 2 would’ve been greatly enhanced.

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The point is this might seem like semantics but every little tweak can make the difference in winning a game or losing.

As the teams take to the court tonight, it’s essential Donovan stays on top of these small tweaks to make the right substitutions, at the right time, ensure CP3, SGA and Schroder have multiple options and make the look for the highest probability to score.

If Billy D can work in concert with is coaching team and the players to be laser-focused on these gut-instinct, time-sensitive matters it could be the difference in winning or losing Game 3.

To reiterate – it’s making pre-game and half time adjustments, seeking out mismatches for scoring opportunities, and reading the game to ensure time outs and substitutions occur at the appropriate time.

Here’s hoping the chips fall in favor of the OKC Thunder tonight.