Thunder drop their first one, 110-105 to the Rockets
HOUSTON — Despite it being a terrible shot and a very bad decision to take it, I still thought that Kevin Durant 3 with six seconds left was going to go in.
It did not go in. It hit all backboard, and then Dwight Howard — Dwight Howard — hit two clutch free throws to seal the game and end the dream of eight-two-and-oh.
“Heartbroken right now,” Billy Donovan joked.
There are two key things to circle in the Thunder’s first loss:
1) 25 turnovers. “That’s why we lost the game,” Durant said. “As a leader I can’t have five turnovers and no assists.” The Thunder were plain sloppy at times, and other times just didn’t connect on a well executed play. This has always been an issue for this team as they freewheel and play loose and confident, but 25 turnovers loses you games.
2) Russell Westbrook’s fourth foul early in the third. After that, Westbrook checked out and the Rockets turned a 14-point deficit into a lead going into the fourth, outscoring the Thunder 25-8 over the final nine minutes of the third. It was a 14-point quarter for OKC as Donovan tried to let his bench work through it, but with the offense sputtering as the desperate Rockets cranked up the hands and intensity, the Thunder didn’t respond well.
All of that considered, this was always going to be a tough one for OKC. The Rockets weren’t about to take 0-4 lightly, even with going down by 15 early in the third. They were going to push, and James Harden wasn’t always going to suck. He got things going, hitting pull-up jumpers from all over as the Thunder tried to adjust and switch up looks on him. Sometimes, really good players make really good plays.
The Thunder’s plan wasn’t really all that bad. They kept length on the floor despite the Rockets playing four guards at times, switching 1-through-4 while still having rangy defenders to contest. That’s why Kyle Singler saw minutes ahead of Anthony Morrow, and Andre Roberson got extended time. Durant defended Harden the most, but the Rockets wanted that switch as much as they could get it to pull Durant off him, and while Singler actually did a nice job at times, Harden’s capable of making tough shots. Which he did. A lot.
Still, a Westbrook 3 gave the Thunder hope, and following a stop, Westbrook fired another that rattled in and out. The ball bounced back the Thunder’s way and found Durant, but with Billy Donovan screaming for a timeout, Durant launched again, coming up wide right.
“I just saw time was running down, but that’s my fault,” Durant said, “I should’ve gotten a better shot.”
The main issue the Thunder battled in this one comes down to the second unit, a perceived strength of the team that didn’t perform tonight.
“One thing that I’m trying to be mindful of as a coach is having our team have things that can be sustained,” Donovan said. “And at some point, our bench, or Russell getting in foul trouble, Kevin being in foul trouble, someone needing a blow, we’re going to need those guys to step up and play.”
NOTES:
- Things got tense, as they tend to do, between Patrick Beverley and Westbrook. It started from the get-go, with Beverley picking up Westbrook full-court the moment he checked in the game. Westbrook swung a little elbow, Beverley reached in for a foul, and we were off.
- Beverley hit a 3 in the second half after pump-faking Westbrook, and for some reason let loose on a heavy trash-talking session. Westbrook then picked up a crushing screen on Beverley, and drove to the rim for another two. That’s the thing about this supposed “rivalry” — Westbrook torches Beverley. Like, it’s not even close here. The perception is Beverley is some kind of Westbrook stopper. But the only way he’s ever done that is by diving into the side of his knee. And even then, Westbrook scored 20 in a half on him in a torn meniscus.
- Donovan conceded postgame that the team didn’t really handle Houston’s extreme smallball all that well. They had issues with switching and mismatches, and couldn’t figure out how to manage the right lineups to battle it.
- One area I think they whiffed: They didn’t properly exploit the Kanter-Capela matchup. I would’ve just fed Kanter consistently with that. They only posted him in that matchup a handful of times.
- The Rockets’ really aren’t all that complicated. It’s basically “How well is Harden going to play?” He played really well. And they won. I realize this is also basically the Thunder formula, but the Rockets really rely on Harden to get them through games.
- A Houston reporter tried to sneakily backdoor his way into asking Durant about free agency, asking about the Rockets’ roster building process and then going with something on if he’s taken notice of how other teams build their teams. Durant didn’t take the bait, cracking a sly grin and then talking about how he’s focused on his team and how they can get better.
- Westbrook’s foul trouble started when he took his second foul when Durant lost a shoe on the first possession of the third. He then picked up two more in two minutes, the Rockets got into the bonus 30 seconds later, and the game started to slip for OKC.
- Anthony Morrow: five minutes, zero shots, zero points. Why Morrow didn’t play more, Donovan said it was mainly a matchup thing as OKC tried to contend with Houston’s guard-heavy lineups. Makes sense, because if you play Morrow more, the Rockets are probably just going to put him in a pick-and-roll to get a switch onto Harden. Still, seems like there should’ve been more of an opportunity in the second and third quarters.
- To start the game, the Rockets were aggressively not guarding Andre Roberson. Like not even 15 feet near him. He hit a corner 3 which got their attention a bit, but still, they weren’t concerned.
- The Rockets started three guards, which resulted in Harden guarding Serge Ibaka. It wasn’t a matchup the Thunder could exploit as Ibaka still doesn’t know how to use his size over a smaller defender. He did have 12 and 14 tonight plus four blocks, though.
- Westbrook (seven), Augustin (six) and Durant (five) combined for 18 turnovers.
- Dion Waiters got 32 minutes and really, I didn’t have much issue with it. Waiters seems to me to be a developing player. He still took some bad step-backs, but he definitely is looking to work the ball more and create over taking a forced look. His line isn’t great — nine points on 3-8, one assist — but I didn’t come away thinking, “Man, Dion stunk.” Which is a pretty low bar, I realize.
- Is Kyle Singler the new Derek Fisher or new Kendrick Perkins? Discuss.
Next up: Home against the Raptors on Wednesday
