OKC Thunder lay an egg in Game 5: player grades

Best OKC Thunder Reserve

Dennis Schroder was on a terror in the first half seemingly strapping the team to his back. As the Rockets collapsed into the paint to guard the rim they were leaving several shooters open on the perimeter. .

The Rockets could get away with that strategy on Dort but Schroder made them pay. In the first half alone he registered 19 points, on 6 of 12 from the field 3 of 5 from deep and 4 of 5 from the line. By this point in the match, he also had one checkmark in each of the rebound, assist, steal and block categories.

He outscored the entire Rockets bench 19-7 in this timeframe.

Unfortunately, his ejection on the flagrant foul came just over three minutes after he entered the game in the second half which didn’t afford him the opportunity to add much to his early tally.

Plus see the notes below on some other nonsense.

Best Opponent:

James Harden broke out in the first half with 20 points on 7 of 10 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point land while the rest of the Rockets starters scored a total of 21 points on 10 of 25 from the field and 1 of 9 from deep with the bench adding seven points.

With the Thunder experiencing a brutal night at the office the Rockets didn’t need much from Harden in the second half as he finished the match with 31 points. He took only five shots in the second half scoring on four. Plus he added two rebounds, five assists a steal and a block.

Notes:

After the game the Rockets were complaining trying to get Schroder suspended for yet another game citing an infraction from 2013 — yes from seven years ago — as an example of a ‘history of this behavior’. Notably, Mike D’Antoni referred to P.J. Tucker’s head butt as a ‘tap’ in the post-game presser – so let’s remember both teams have their objectives.

It certainly didn’t look like Schroder went in attempting to hurt Tucker on what by the way as an illegal screen and with so much being let go it’s baffling the Rockets are looking to fuel the Thunder fire heading into Game 6. Or could it be they are that worried about losing?

Something else to consider is the kick delivered by Draymond Green to Adams nether regions in 2016 got him a flagrant one and he didn’t miss any games including the one he delivered the blow in. And, his history was shady having already kneed him in that area in the same series.

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More importantly, the Rockets who keep trying to claim the Thunder are playing dirty and to get one of CP3 or Schroder suspended additional games are only fueling OKC’s competitive fire.

As for the officiating crew, they should be ashamed and if the league is going to review anything it should be their performance. Sure, the OKC Thunder did not play well, but it doesn’t take away from the fact James Capers officiating crew was abysmal. Rockets were allowed to stand in the paint well past the three-second allowable count (on multiple occasions and often by multiple people). Perhaps one of the refs warned them because it was less egregious in the second half.

As for James Capers officiating crew stats, Rylan Styles offered up some eyebrow-raising  numbers to consider:

1. The last six OKC Thunder matches officiated by James Capers all ended in losses.
2. Of the last 17 Rockets games, James Capers crew officiated Houston won 16 times.

Check out tonight’s box score over at this ESPN link. OKC is back in action on Monday in what is a win or go home match.