By Michael Doutey
The Oklahoma City Thunder lose a crucial game to the San Antonio Spurs 103-99 in San Antonio. The Thunder had their chances late in this one as the Spurs left the door open for the Thunder. But OKC lacked execution, mainly from their point guard Russell Westbrook. The Thunder did a nice job of defending in the second half, especially on LaMarcus Aldridge who burned the Thunder in the first half. This a bad loss for OKC, who could have won the season series with the Spurs, but instead the Spurs tie it up 2-2. But the Thunder could have really helped themselves with locking down the 4th seed. Instead, OKC is now tied with the Spurs and hold a half-game lead on the New Orleans Pelicans. Here are tonight’s five observations from an ugly loss.
1. What Was that, Russ?
This was one of the worst fourth quarters I’ve ever seen from Russell Westbrook. Usually he is extremely clutch, but not tonight. He threw up all over himself. Russ was 2-7 shooting in the fourth. He took two terrible deep three’s that he airballed, the second coming with 14 seconds left with the Thunder only down three. OKC had a timeout available and maybe Billy Donovan should have used it there to avoid Russ from taking such a bad shot, but the plan in that situation is to drive to the basket for a quick two. Instead, Russ takes a deep three that he doesn’t even come close on. Russ’ two makes came from the mid-range. He had three misses at the rim that were taking out of control and weren’t close. Then there were some bad turnovers that he had trying to bail himself out of when he drove out of control and couldn’t get a shot off and flung the ball to Steven Adams. Russ was as bad as it geta tonight and this loss squarely sits on his shoulders. Westbrook finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and seven turnovers.
2. PG Was Excellent
Despite the loss, this was the best Paul George has played in weeks. He was the best player for the Thunder tonight. PG scored 26 points to lead the Thunder and shot 9-20 overall and 3-6 from three. PG was good in the playmaking role as well, dishing out six assists. PG did have three turnovers, but two came on the first two possessions of the game. I thought PG was stout on defense and was the go-to option on offense. He did have some rushed shots and then was tracked down from behind by Danny Green which should have been an easy dunk, but other than that, PG was fantastic.
3. Steven Adams Tough Night
Adams had his moments in this one, but he had a tough night overall. He had the duties of guarding LaMarcus Aldridge, which is always tough. Aldridge had a good night, scoring 25 points to lead the Spurs. Most of that came in the first half. Adams limited Aldridge to five points in the second half. But the offensive end was a tough one from Steven in this one. He scored 10 points but it was on 5-11 shooting and 0-2 from the line. Adams is typically a high efficiency scorer, but baskets were tough to come by for Adams. He did grab 13 rebounds (5 offensive) and had two turnovers, one coming in a tough spot after he grabbed an offensive rebound and then turned the ball over right to Patty Mills who found Davis Bertans for a wide open three that put OKC down 94-87 with 4:13 to play. It was an off night overall from Steven.
4. Carmelo Shot it Better
There has been lots of talk about Melo this week. I have said that if Melo isn’t hitting shot then he isn’t worth playing. After a rough week or so shooting, Melo had a really solid outing in that department. Melo was 3-6 overall, but was 3-3 from three. That is a positive. But that’s about all he added in this one. Melo fouled LaMarcus Aldridge with 1:24 to go (OKC was down 96-93) after the Thunder forced a wild shot from Patty Mills, but Melo couldn’t block out Aldridge and he got to the foul line. He’s got to be able to add more than just shooting when he is out there. Tonight he scored nine points, grabbed three rebounds, had two assists and two steals.
5. Thunder’s Bench Stunk
Raymond Felton did his thing in the fourth quarter, but the bench overall was awful. Every player from the second unit had a negative plus-minus. Felton scored 10 points, but was a minus-16. Patrick Patterson scored 7 points on a perfect 3-3 shooting, but was a minus-17. Jerami Grant was held scoreless and was a minus-13. Alex Abrines was a minus-nine and Terrance Ferguson was a minus-five. It is said that role players don’t travel well in the NBA. That held true tonight.
The Thunder fall to 44-32 on the season and play again tomorrow night in OKC against the Denver Nuggets. They are all really tough from here on out. After Denver, OKC goes to New Orleans, hosts Golden State, goes to Houston, is at Miami and closes the season against the Memphis Grizzlies. Tomorrow’s tip is at 7 p.m. inside the Peake.
