OKC Thunder: Transition defense tops 3 takeaways in loss to Bulls
By Brandon Dale
No. 1: Transition defense lacking as OKC struggles to find balance
OKC had a rough night on the defensive end. Chicago outrebounded OKC 61 to 46. The Bulls were able to get out and run their fast break to perfection with 15 fast-break points. In comparison, the Thunder had only three points on the break.
The other glaring deficiency was paint defense, where the Thunder allowed the Bulls to score 64 points in the paint. That represented more than half of the Bulls’ entire point total. OKC didn’t have an answer for anything that was happening on the defensive end as Coby White torched OKC for 27 points in 26 minutes of playing time.
Aleksej Pokusevski is still having a bit of trouble moving his feet on the defensive end. At just 18-years old and with two NBA games under his belt, I feel like there could be some massive growth within his abilities on the defensive side. The sooner he improves defensively it should result in an increase in playing time and allow him to immediately put his imprint on the game.
A point of emphasis moving forward with be transition defense, as well as the ability to not let the opposing teams’ frontcourt dismantle the Thunder. To wit, Billy Donovan and company were able to do anything and everything possible tonight, and it showed.