OKC Thunder takeaway No. 3) Slow starts severely reduce chances of victory
The OKC Thunder aren’t very good in the first quarter; that much is obvious.
Far too many games have featured the Thunder playing catch-up after falling behind by double digits in the first quarter. That was the case against the Suns last Wednesday when the Thunder fell behind by 15 points before storming back for the victory. It was the case, again, on Monday night when the Thunder fell behind 24 points.
Against some of those teams, the Thunder have found ways to win despite the seemingly insurmountable deficit. But when the Thunder shares the court with teams such as the Clippers, Nets, or Rockets, that turns out not to be the case.
If it has shown anything, it’s that this team refuses to give up, battling until the final buzzer no matter how out-of-hand the game appears to be, and that’s a good thing.
Teams hit the Thunder hard in the opening minutes. Sometimes, the Thunder are prepared and answer each bucket with one of their own, but more times than not, the OKC Thunder struggle to make much of an impact until the second and third quarters.
The Thunder scored a season-high 34 points in the first quarter of their 125-122 win over the Blazers, but the Thunder have scored less than 20 points (four) in the first quarter more times than they have scored 30 points (twice) or more.
It has been said many times that this season is one in which the OKC Thunder are rebuilding, so a loss is not the end of the world and, to some, even is preferred.
However, fans want to see close losses. They want a Thunder team that forces their opponents to rely on a last-second shot to pull off the victory.
This Thunder team doesn’t seem to be that team — not yet, at least.