The Game 7 loss ended the OKC Thunder season but three takeaways continue to resonate days later.
The heartbreaking Game 7 loss ends what was one of the most enjoyable OKC Thunder seasons in franchise history. Prior to offering up the takeaways from the final match, it was necessary to take a beat. For as impressive as the season was, processing time was required.
Feelings were running high especially since it came down to one final play and at the moment it was easier to see everything that was negative. Unfortunately, the extra days only served to add additional angst. Especially with an example of how a properly constructed game-ending final play should be run — but more on that below.
With everything on the line, the OKC Thunder and Houston Rockets shockingly began the match both hot from the field. Typically these moments make players a bit tight which affects their shooting. Instead, the teams arrived at the half with the Rockets leading 61-59 on pace to score over 120 points.
The final two frames served up a more defensive intense segment of the game, some odd whistles and the Thunder getting to their favored position late in the match. Ultimately, the team came up just short. For many of us, we’ll revisit the final few minutes over and over this offseason and depending on the decisions that ware made possibly well into the future.
In the interim, these were the key takeaways from the final game of the OKC Thunder 2019-20 season.
Three key OKC Thunder takeaways from Game 7
Harden’s shooting woes in closeout games continue:
James Harden has played professionally for 11 seasons and has two predominant items tied to his name. First, he’s arguably the best scorer in the association. That’s the good — but the bad side of the equation is he also might be the worst superstar player in closeout games.
In Game 7 versus the OKC Thunder, once again the bearded man struggled to score and was inefficient from the field. His final tally of 17 points isn’t what you want from your star. Worse it came on 4 of 15 from the field and only one out of nine 3-point attempts.
He did have two steals, three blocks, and nine assists but he also had four turnovers. The fact his post-game interview was spent bragging about his defensive effort seems more like a way to remove the focus on how poorly he played offensively.
Dort is a pivotal piece of OKC Thunder future:
Thunderous Intentions has giddily sung the praises of Luguentz Dort long before he was added to the starting rotation. One playoff series and a historic Game 7 performance later and now everyone around the association knows who Lu Dort is.
Dort isn’t just going to be a lockdown defender although that will be where he gains the most accolades. And, he won’t always be left wide open by opponents to shoot at will. The takeaway here is how quickly Dort adapts and learns from his mistakes. Even on the blocked shot by Harden, that’s a play he’ll know next time where he should’ve dribbled taken a side step, and shot or driven the ball.
By night’s end, he entered the history books having scored the most points (30) by an OKC Thunder rookie since (ironically) James Harden. Dort also became the youngest player to score 30 in a Game 7 in NBA history. The Canadian hit half of his 3-point attempts (6 of 12) and smartly navigated the game knowing when to drive or give up the ball.
Heady times for the OKC Thunder fan base who now has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort and Darius Bazley as the triad of their future foundation.
Point God deserved better:
Just as Dort reached an NBA plateau in the record books based on age – – so too did Chris Paul for becoming the oldest NBA player to ever record a triple-double in a closeout game.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
The Point God finished the match with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, and two steals. It wasn’t all perfect as he also had six turnovers a game after not recording any. CP3 didn’t force his game taking only 11 shots (5 of 11 and 3 of 6 from deep) and got his team where they needed to be entering the crucial clutch time within reach of taking the series.
While I won’t dive into this too much (another post will pay more specific attention to this) the play calls made at the game end were head-scratching. Sure — I know Danilo Gallinari took the technical free-throws all season this is the type of game where you make an exception. Gallo shot 2 of 6 all night and yet that final play was set up for him.
First – you know Paul would’ve buried that free throw which then would’ve opened up all sorts of options for the Thunder. Again- I’ll get into this in another post.
We can’t lose sight of how proud the fanbase should be for how their team played this season or how impressive the captain has been. But, watching him at the podium with his head down and clearly crying was extremely hard to witness. The fanbase may feel robbed, but one thing I know or sure is Chris Paul deserved better.