As of late, the Thunder have usually started slowly then behind Russell Westbrook stormed back in the fourth quarter. Not so in Portland on Tuesday night as this game was over at the end of the third period. Russell Westbrook never re-entered the game in the fourth period and didn’t register a triple double as the Trailblazers routed the Thunder by a score of 114-95.
If Billy Donovan and Sam Presti wanted to see what Victor Oladipo means to this Thunder team they got an up close and personal look–and it wasn’t at all pretty as the Thunder looked bad offensively, looked lost defensively, looked in disarray with its starters, and even worse with the bench. The Thunder got hammered in the paint, got beat in transition, and basically played one of their worst games of the season.
I hope that wasn’t too vague or ambiguous.
Oladipo sat with a sprained right wrist as Jerami Grant got the start. Don’t get me wrong, I like Jerami Grant’s defense, hustle, and athleticism, but when you’re already spacing challenged with Andre Roberson, I’m not sure Donovan can get away with Oladipo sitting in a splendid dark blue blazer and tie while Jerami Grant starts. On this night it ultimately didn’t matter because Anthony Morrow, Andre Roberson, Alex Abrines, Jerami Grant, and Semaj Christon all struggled with their shots.
OKC actually came out of the gates rather crisply and led 27-21 near the end of the first quarter when Westbrook took his customary first break of the game. In essence, that was the turning in this game as Portland then took control of the game with neither Westbrook or Oladipo on the floor. The Trailblazers led 32-31 to end the first. From the point Westbrook sat at 27-21, the Trailblazers outscored the Thunder 71-44 through the end of the third period. Ball game, and really no reason for the OKC starters to play in the fourth period considering the Thunder play in Utah tonight with of all things first place in the Northwest Division on the line against a Jazz team which has been playing well of late.
Westbrook’s line went 20-6-6, but in fairness to Westbrook, from the point he sat that first time the rest of his team was so bad minus Steven Adams and Joffery Lauvernge, maybe it was meant to be one of the those NBA hangover nights when you rest your superstar and look forward to the Jazz game tonight.
There were some silver linings though. Steven Adams had his third straight solid game offensively and is on a shooting tear currently. I thought as per the usual norm, Joffery Lauvernge did his array of little things well. Kyle Singler played in the fourth and did some nice things during mop up time, though I’m sure some on Daily Thunder and the Sports Animal will blame him for this loss (sigh). Jerami Grant got time to work on his offensive game in the fourth and made five of six free throws in the game. Again, I like Grant as a player, but maybe not so much without Oladipo there to mitigate the Andre Roberson spacing dilemma.
As I close this recap down I’m sure the DT millennials are feverishly working their dozen different plus/minus variations to figure out what happened last night. Here’s what happened, OKC’s second best player and the guard who has been sliding over to cover bench units as well, was in a suit and tie watching the game. That’s what happened.
So you can either beat the Thunder down and wear yourself to the nub like the DT millens trying to come to terms with this loss from a metric lense or maybe take the grownup approach and realize that this Thunder team without Westbrook, Oladipo, and Adams all healthy doesn’t have the overall talent to sustain for very long.
Get well soon, Victor Oladipo.
Thunder in Utah tonight with first place in the Northwest Division on the line.
Nick will always be one of my favorites.