CHICAGO – In a game of runs, the Thunder thought it had made the big push that it needed to steal momentum down the stretch. Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls, behind Derrick Rose, had one more burst left in the tank.
Head Coach Billy Donovan’s squad led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but then the lead changed hands and Chicago controlled the flow for the middle quarters. Trailing by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter, the Thunder dug deep, making a charge to get back into the game.
With 3:11 left to play, the ball swung around the floor, moving the defense, and Dion Waiters stepped into a jump shot from the left wing to tie the game at 94. In response however, the former NBA MVP Rose hit a banked-in a jumper from the left side. Russell Westbrook missed a baseline jumper on the ensuing possession, then Rose got fouled going right while trying a difficult scoop shot and made both free throws.
As an answer, Westbrook found Serge Ibaka in the middle of the paint for a wide open jumper to make it a one-possession game and giving the former 10 assists and the latter 17 points on the night.
Throughout most of the fourth quarter, the Thunder had been switching on just about every pick-and-roll, which helped force misses and fuel the double-digit comeback. On the next two Chicago trips, however, Rose got isolated on Thunder big men and hit a baseline jumper, then a step back jumper to make it 102-96, capping a stretch of eight straight points for the Bulls point guard.
Out of a timeout Kevin Durant hit a jumper in the lane, giving him 33 points on the night, to cut the deficit to four. Nevertheless, after another defensive switch, Pau Gasol posted up Westbrook and knocked home a bucket, sealing the Thunder defeat.
“We were going back and forth scoring, but we needed to get a couple stops,” Donovan said.
There weren’t major missed assignments by the Thunder or faulty schemes, just good shot-making by the Bulls. Moving forward, the Thunder wants to be more disruptive rather than letting opponents get off decent looks at the basket, even with a hand in the face.
“We have to figure it out,” Durant said. “We have to get stops. We have to buckle down and get them. There’s no way around it. We just have to do it.”- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Growing Each Day
The game’s final outcome will leave a bitter taste in the Thunder’s mouths, but there are a number of areas that the team can look to as evidence of forward progress. Coming into Thursday’s game, the two main areas of concern for Donovan’s club were turnovers and fouls, and the Thunder limited the damage in both regards.
With just nine giveaways compared to 21 assists and by only allowing six free throw attempts in the second half, the Thunder showed that they can identify issues and commit mental and physical energy to fixing them.
“We played a little bit cleaner, we played a little bit more efficiently. We made some strides in a positive direction,” Donovan said. “The result is not what we want, but addressing the turnovers was much better. We had better ball movement. At times we moved it pretty well. At times defensively we did a pretty good job.”
“It’s still early in the season,” Ibaka said. “We’re still figuring out the way we’re going to play. It’s not easy. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’re going to get there.”- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Forcing Tough Two’s
Over the final seven-and-a-half minutes of the contest, the Thunder allowed the Bulls to score 14 points, but by investigating the types of shots the Bulls generated, it shows that the defense mostly forced Chicago into the type of shots that are typically inefficient. Gasol made a 19-foot jump shot, then Rose hit an eight-footer, banked in a 15-footer and then hit back-to-back step-back jumpers from 17 and 16 feet respectively. Some of those makes by Rose were over the outstretched arm of the 6-foot-11 Enes Kanter, meaning Rose made some difficult, low percentage looks, which are the kind of shots the Thunder defense is designed to force.
“(Kanter) got Rose to take contested jump shots,” Donovan explained. “Enes did his job in that situation in terms of what kind of shots we wanted to at least try to force.”
“Those are long two’s and bank shots,” Ibaka echoed. “Those are tough. If we lose with that, we’ll live with that.”<
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By the Numbers
8-for-14 – Shooting numbers for Serge Ibaka, part of a 17-point, six-rebound, two-block night
21 – Second-half points for Kevin Durant, on 8-for-16 shooting- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Last Word
