This would qualify as a bad loss, but in fairness with the exception of Chris Paul’s 31 point performance the entire team was fairly bad in this 114-106 setback inside of Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The entire team had the appearance that the bleak, drizzly, cold weather in Oklahoma City on Tuesday set their mood on the floor. I felt like shit myself all day. I didn’t want to move. I get it. This was one of those days you just wanted to eat hot soup with your dog and lay by a fireplace watching the results come in from New Hampshire.
Other than Chris Paul—they all played poorly and with little energy.
You need go no further than this singular stat… combined Gallinari, Dennis Schroder, and Steven Adams were a combined 13-39 from the field. With rookie Darius Bazely already out with a knee injury the team needed a big night from Nerlens Noel to stabilize the rotation. This didn’t happen as Noel himself was only able to play eight minutes due to an injury.
This was a game the Thunder should win, but by the same token, this San Antonio team isn’t so horrific it’s like losing to the Warriors or Knicks or Oklahoma State this season.
For this Thunder team to win four of the top five players need to play well. It can’t just be Chris Paul. The success of the team to date has been the play of Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, Gallinari, and Shai Alexander all pulling their weight making big shots. Doing little things. Making big plays.
This loss wasn’t about Billy Donovan or Lu Dort or Terrance Ferguson or the rotations…more to the point it was about the core guys minus Chris Paul struggling on the same night on a bleak winter night in Oklahoma City.
As far as New Hampshire this was simple. Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren had worse nights than the Thunder… while Amy K filled the moderate lane and has the appearance of someone who might actually be qualified to be POTUS or at the least Vice-President. I’ll write about search and frisk tomorrow given I attended a black high school and share my thoughts with Bernie Sanders and his staff on the subject.
Next up the surging Pelicans in New Orleans.
Bloomberg-Klobuchar 2020