With five minutes left in the game Sunday, the Thunder led the Lakers 84-73. On their next seven possessions, which spanned all but the final 45 seconds, the Lakers scored 18 points. That’s right; 18 points on seven possessions. They scored on every possession.
But defense is not why the Thunder lost, 114-106 in double overtime, after leading 77-59 late in the third quarter and 79-62 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
This was an offensive loss. The Thunder fell into the trap of not attacking. The Thunder turned into the kind of team that Charles Barkley keeps saying the Thunder is â€" a jump-shooting team. Barkley is right that jump-shooting teams eventually meet their demise.
Now, the Thunder has a world-class excuse: the injury to James Harden. Metta World Peace’s cheap shot elbow to Harden’s head â€" Metta World Chaos, is more like it â€" gave the Thunder super sub a concussion and sent him to the showers late in the second quarter. World Chaos went, too, ejected and perhaps suspended.
But still. When Harden and Chaos departed, the game was closer. By early in the fourth quarter, the game was a rout. And even when OKC’s offense went south, its defense stayed tough. With 11 minutes left, the Lakers trailed 79-62, and they still trailed 87-76 with four minutes left. With any offense at all in the fourth quarter, the Thunder wins in a walk.
Instead, let’s analyze what the Thunder did in those final 11 minutes of regulation, after taking a 79-62 lead:
* 20 possessions, 12 points. Not efficient production at all.
* 16 shots, just three made. Kevin Durant made a 15-footer to make it 81-67, Derrick Fisher made a 3-pointer to make it 84-70 and Durant made a 3-pointer to make it 87-76 and seemingly put away the game.
* The Thunder committed four turnovers, which seems bad, but for the Boomers is not awful. Thabo Sefolosha fumbled away an easy pass, with the score 79-62. Get a basket there, and Laker coach Mike Brown would have to start thinking about the white flag. Durant committed two straight turnovers after OKC took an 81-67 lead; he let Steve Blake steal the ball off a dribble, then Durant lost the ball out of bounds after catching a lob pass from Russell Westbrook. The final turnover came when Westbrook misplayed an outlet pass from Sefolosha. They gave the turnover to Thabo, though it looked like Westbrook should have had it.
* Of the Thunder’s 16 shots in the final 11 minutes, seven were 3-point tries. Royal Ivey took two. Durant took three (and made one). Westbrook took one. Fisher took one and made it. So that’s 2-of-7.
* Of the Thunder’s other nine shots (only one of which was made), only three were inside 14 feet. Only two were in the lane.
* Thus, the Thunder didn’t shoot a fourth-quarter foul shot until 1:13 was left in the period. After the lead was lost â€" Kobe Bryant’s 3-pointer with 1:21 left gave the Lakers an 88-87 lead â€" the Thunder came to its senses. Westbrook drove the lane on two straight possessions, was fouled and hit four foul shots.
But that aggression came too late.
In the first overtime, the Thunder played better offense. Still scored just six points, made just two of seven shots, but at least the Thunder attacked. Durant missed 9- and 10-footers. Kendrick Perkins made a layup off a Westbrook missed 8-footer. Westbrook’s last-second shot was the only 3-point attempt.
But the second overtime, the Thunder lost focus again. After Durant’s dunk off Thabo’s steal gave OKC an early 99-97 lead, here are the next four Thunder possessions:
1. Durant missed 19-footer
2. Durant missed 22-footer
3. Durant made 3-pointer, forging a 102-102 tie
4. Westbrook missed 25-footer.
And the Thunder never led again.
In the final 21 minutes, the Thunder had eight foul shots and made just eight of 33 shots. The Thunder quit driving, quit attacking, and did exactly what Barkley and critics say happens with the Thunder. Settled for jump shots. And thus the game was lost.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
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