This is precisely where it’s a good thing being a Stage 4 cancer survivor. In that…you always rememeber the mantra–‘Never too low, never too high…whatever gets thrown at you. Believe in God, yourself, and others around you…and stay the course.’
Plus….’Don’t surrender and be kind to others.’
47:59:07
That was the time of how long the Thunder held the lead in this game.
I watched the game intently. I’ve looked at the stat sheet, and I’m still shaking my head as to why Coach Mark all the sudden started Cason Wallace over Isaiah Hartenstein…and finished with Cason amassing 33 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, and a game worst -13 rating for both teams combined.
Keep this in mind as I crawl forward with my observations this morning…the Pacers pounded the Thunder on the boards by a collective margin of 56-39. That’s a +17 on the boards. In his 17 minutes of play, Isaiah grabbed 9 rebounds and with Chet Holmgren once again going ‘Missing in Action’ in this Game 1….rebounds were a substantial part of why the Pacers were able to overcome 25 turnovers on the road and still miraculously find a way to win this game at the finish.
Think about that…25 turnovers on the road and yet they still won the game.
Maybe it was just me….but I think almost swore to my wife I saw Mike Gundy working his magic on that Thunder bench pulling the strings the last seven minutes of the fourth period. It had a surreal Gundyesque feel to it.
Are you Thunder people kidding me? This is why I shake my head and just whisper to myself…”Let it go, Mike. It’s Oklahoma. This is how these people do things. Thi is why Ryan Walters is their education czar. This why Markwayne Mullen is one of the U.S. Senators. Let it go, MJ.”
I mean Cason Wallace got 5 more minutes than Alex Caruso as well so this wasn’t just a going small thing. And by the way…I thought the manner in which Gabbard and Lively bullied the Thunder on the interior last season in the Dallas series was the primary reason Sam Presti added both Isaiah and Alex Caruso to this basketball team.
Shai has nothing to explain to the basketball world after this shocking loss at the buzzer last night. He in no way was the problem. And BTW…do you people realize that in this game not ONE SINGLE MINUTE were Isaiah and Chet on the floor together. Not one single minute did their coach just try and see what might happen with that dynamic for a few minutes.
Here’s a couple of other things I took note of as well as I wind this down….
1 These Pacers are a very resilent group. They’re mentally tough.
2 The coaching matchup last night looked like Nick Saban vs. Mike Gundy. Maybe that’s why I focused so much on my Game Day post about what an excellent basketball coach Rick Carlisle has been during his career.
3 I also think at this point…Shai can really only count on three of his teammates for being engaged as co-leaders on this team on a game by game basis. Those three by my take are Lu, Alex, and Isaiah.
4 Again, one of the primary reasons Sam Presti won the NBA Executive of the Year this season was because of Caruso and Hartenstein additions to the team. Were there Thunder games played after the Minnesota series I’m not aware of?
5 Pick it up in a big, big way in Game 2, Coach Mark. Because all the sudden this is much like the Denver series, minus the fact the Pacers don’t have a first time interim head coach and have ten dudes who are healthy, athletic, long and are sick of hearing how great the OKC Thunder are.
And BTW…congrats to Coach David Adelman for being named the head coach of the Denver Nuggets moving forward. I think it was a deserved promotion.
Game 2 in OKC on Sunday. One would think a must-win situation for the Thunder.
Mike J