The loss the OKC Thunder suffered at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday is the kind of loss we, as fans, expected when the team entered into the rebuild phase.
Somewhere along the way, the Thunder forgot that this is who they’re supposed to be and kept pulling off upset victories. Even against teams that, on paper, are solidly built for sustained winning.
But over the last two games, Oklahoma City has regressed to make good on the tank.
To blame the Thunder’s poor offensive night on the team’s abysmal shooting would be the easy target.
The Thunder certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves, shooting right around 35 percent for the game. Most of that can be attributed to the awful 3-point shooting on the night. The Thunder took 34 shots from beyond the arc and made just eight. Comparatively, the Trail Blazers made 20 of their 46 attempts from deep.
It could also have something to do with the Thunder’s turnovers. The Trail Blazers took care of the basketball, coughing it up just nine times.
The Thunder had no such luck.
Oklahoma City gave the Trail Blazers many more opportunities to score, committing 22 turnovers in the game. Isaiah Roby was the team’s biggest culprit, accounting for seven on his own.
Or it could simply be that the Trail Blazers were better than the Thunder on paper and the court.
Oklahoma City’s offense is depleted, relying solely on a group of mostly inexperienced players to take on and take down one of the NBA’s more potent offenses. Although Portland was missing Derrick Jones Jr., Keljin Blevins, and Zach Collins the Thunder were missing four of their biggest offensive producers.
With that being said, let’s dive into player grades in the Thunder’s 48-point loss to the Trail Blazers.