OKC Thunder get hammered by the Miami Heat: 3 takeaways

The OKC Thunder took on the Miami Heat down in Florida, losing in a big way. Here are three takeaways from the blowout loss

The OKC Thunder continue their development season, this time taking on the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, the barrage of 3-point shooting from last season’s runner up was too great to endure, with the Thunder losing by 28 points, 118-90.

The Heat is also a very strong help defense team which made it hard for the Thunder to score in the half-court set. When watching the game it was easy to see which team has been together for a while and which one has been put together with youth and potential.

The Thunder got within four points in the third period but the Heat, particularly Kelly Olynyk went on a big 19-0 run and left the Thunder in their wake. In contrast, the Thunder went 13-of-48 from deep for the game, which is good for 27.1 percent.

The younger members of the OKC Thunder led the charge.

Of the starters, Luguentz Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Darius Bazley combined for 46 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block in their playing time. The combination of George Hill and Al Horford combined for five points, five rebounds, three assists, zero steals, and a block.

Horford and Hill combined shot the ball at 2-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-7 from deep. However, they both had the best impact on the box score with both of them being minus-five in 21 minutes of play. The Thunder sat their veterans and even had both two-way players on the court for most of the last period due to the deficit. Let’s take a look at three takeaways.

This team needs to get into transition more.

The Thunder did not have a great deal of luck getting out in transition but when they did they looked incredibly hard to stop. In the first period, Bazley ran the floor hard, taking on two Miami defenders including Jimmy Butler, beating them both for the easy dunk.

Then in the second SGA had two transition buckets. The first he was impossible to stop, beating defenders down the court with his typical burst of speed and getting the relatively easy basket on a Bazley assist. The second was just an incredible transition move where no one could get a handle on him and he got the easy bucket just prior to halftime.

Early in the third period, Hamidou Diallo beat most of the Heat down the floor, taking the ball directly at Bam Adebayo, causing the Heat big man to foul him. While this does not seem like much, the Thunder only had nine free-throw attempts in the first three quarters. Getting into transition makes things happen.

Against a half-court defense of the Miami Heat, which is one of the best in the NBA, the Thunder had very few answers. They were suffocated, to put it mildly. This team will learn from the experience but it is not the last time that they will lose by a big margin this season.

Effort is contagious

The Thunder have no shortage of effort players on their roster. Kendrich Williams is playing in a similar style to Dort last season where he thinks that every play is going to be his last in the NBA. When he is on the court there is a definite raising of the intensity level.

However, it all starts with Dort. His defense is effort-based and non-stop. As a result, the rest of his teammates all do not want to let the sophomore down and defend at a higher level as well. He is also always cutting on offense or driving to the hoop if he does not have a good 3-point shot.

On the second unit, Diallo is always working hard, either cutting to the hoop or hustling to outjump opposing big men to get the putback. He is without a shadow of a doubt the leader of the second unit and this was shown by a Justin Jackson play just prior to the second half ending.

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Mike Muscala had just hit a three and was fouled while taking the shot. After hitting the free throw to complete the four-point play the Heat inbounded the ball. Jackson stole the ball off the pass and hit the floater. This was straight out of the Diallo playbook and meant the Thunder had scored six points in five seconds.

The flow-on effect was the Thunder went into the halftime break down 14 points, 63-49, rather than 63-43. It fuelled their third-quarter surge before the Heat took total control of the game. However, every effort play is seen by the coaching staff and teammates.

The bench needs to step up

This was a rare game where the minutes for the starting five were the same as those for the bench. Both units played 120 minutes and while you expect greater numbers from the starters, the second unit just could not cut it tonight.

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The starting five had 51 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists, two steals, and a block. They shot the ball at 40.9 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from deep, and 87.5 percent from the line. The second unit had 39 points, 22 rebounds, nine assists, four steals, and two blocks.

However, there was a massive difference in their shooting numbers with the reserves going 31.4 percent from the field, 19.2 percent from deep, and 63.2 percent from the line. While there is always going to be a difference, settling for the 3-ball when it is not falling is not going to be good enough.

Diallo was good with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting, his only blemish coming at the free-throw line where he went 3-of-4. Jackson was good with seven rebounds and a steal but was 0-of-5 from deep. Muscala was off with 1-of-7 from deep and Maledon was only slightly better with 2-of-7.

While the Miami defense was really good, if the shots are not dropping then try something else. Moses Brown took the ball hard at the defense and got to the line eight times in under six minutes. It is fairly safe to say there will be a lot learned by the bench unit from this game.