Joffrey Lauvergne’s three-pointer missed, and in the middle of the lane it was a royal rumble. Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams’ limbs were everywhere, scrapping for the loose ball. The result was a jump ball. Then another jump ball. And off the second one, the ball squirted away towards mid-court and Victor Oladipo tried to save it in bounds, and somehow the ball bounced off a Thunder player and out of bounds.
It was practically a personification of the Thunder’s entire night.
Head Coach Billy Donovan’s team got good looks all night, but didn’t take care of the ball, secure loose rebounds, control their fouls and see the ball go in the bucket enough to eke out a win, eventually falling in overtime to the Indiana Pacers 115-111. After the game, Donovan highlighted turnovers, defensive rebounds, fouls and missed shots as the difference in the game.
“It was a hard night for us offensively as it relates to the ball going into the basket. Sometimes when the ball isn’t going into the basket, you have to give yourself an opportunity to win playing defense,” Donovan recapped. “Where we got hurt is the turnovers in the first half. Then the offensive rebounding by them in the second half in particular. Then the entire game, the discrepancy at the free throw line.”
Russell Westbrook took ownership of all of that, saying that a better start could have made a huge difference. The Thunder fell behind by 10 in the first quarter, and played uphill the rest of the way.
“It started with myself,” Westbrook said, shouldering the responsibility as a leader. “I could have done a lot of things better. We have to come out and be ready to play every night. Tonight I let my guys down all around, and have to be better.”
The Thunder’s second unit however, managed to battle the Thunder back into the game during those stretches that spanned the end of the first and start of the second quarter, then the end of the third and start of the fourth period.
Without Semaj Christon, who missed the game with a concussion and a non-displaced fracture in his face, the Thunder altered the rotation a bit to get Oladipo on the basketball at point guard of the second unit. The Thunder’s reserves scored 45 points on the night on 17-for-31 shooting (54.8 percent).
“They had really good energy. They played really well together,” Donovan assessed. “All of our bench, when they came in there they contributed and did some positive things for us.”
“I was just trying to put people in position to be successful. We have some talented guys off the bench,” Oladipo said. “I just try to run the unit, be smart and pick my spots on when to be aggressive and when not to be.”
Despite trailing by nine to start the fourth quarter and trailing by as many as eight with 4:04 to go, the Thunder clawed its way back, starting with a Westbrook three and ending with one too. With just 4.6 seconds remaining the Thunder trailed 103-100, and Donovan called a timeout. Starting out on the right wing, Westbrook stayed patient as he waited for the floor to move and a screener to get into position. He curled around it, caught the ball and fired a three-pointer to tie the game and send it into overtime.
“It was a big shot by him obviously,” Oladipo said. “We did a great job of executing. Russ cut hard, got his feet set and he made a big shot for us.”
“Everybody did what they were supposed to do,” guard Anthony Morrow added. “We made sure we really set screens and laid wood on guys. He came off and hit a big shot.”
In the final frame, however, the Thunder shot just 4-for-15 from the field while the Pacers went 4-for-7 and knocked down three free throws. The effort was just too little, too late, but the Thunder grew and learned some crucial lessons down the stretch before hitting the road for three straight games this week.- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
By the Numbers
5 – Triple-doubles for Russell Westbrook this season, as he recorded 31 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists on the night
6 – Assists for Victor Oladipo, who also scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and made two steals
45 – Points by the Thunder’s reserves, led by Enes Kanter’s 16 points, four rebounds and three assists – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Last Word
“We did a great job fighting back. Especially the second unit came in and played pretty good to get us back in the game. But we just came up short.” – guard Victor Oladipo
