Justin Cooper

December 14, 2018

 

Foul trouble, missed free throws, and costly turnovers prove too much to overcome as Anthony Davis lifts his Pelicans to a 118-114 home win over the OKC Thunder.

The OKC Thunder squared off against the New Orleans Pelicans and the ever imposing Anthony Davis in Wednesday night action, coming up short on the front end of a two game road trip,  118-114 on the back of a herculean 44 point, 18 rebound performance by the Pelicans’ big man.

The OKC Thunder would finish the game having four players with twenty or more points, Paul George leading the way with 25, however, lack of contribution from OKC’s role players, costly turnovers, foul trouble, and missed free throws would ultimately be the Thunder demise in the contest, as the Pelicans were able to fend off the Thunder eleventh hour push.

Through two quarters, the Thunder and Pelicans traded blows in what was a very evenly contested matchup.  Oklahoma City, as they have done often early in games this season, established their presence in the paint, hammering the ball down low to Steven Adams who chipped in 6 points in the opening period and 12 in the half on 6-7 shooting through tough play around the rim.

Paul George’s smooth shooting touch continued, adding 9 points in the half off a balanced attack, but, through two, Dennis Schroder was the high point man for the Thunder, finishing the first half with 15 on an efficient 5-10 shooting.  Despite shooting 50% from the floor as a team, the Thunder struggled to contain Pelican bigs Anthony Davis and Julius Randle who torched the Thunder for a combined 30 points on 11-22 shooting.  The Thunder entered the half down one, 56-57.

The Thunder started the second half with a Jerami Grant foul, his fourth, on Julius Randle in the opening seconds which would prove a pivotal point in the game.  Grant was whistled again barely a minute and a half later and, bridled with his fifth personal foul, was forced to sit throughout the majority of the second half.

Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Dennis Schroder combined for 21 points in the quarter on 9 of 13 shooting, but the Thunder, who punish opponents in the third quarter this season with a league leading 98.4 defensive rating, missed his activity around the rim giving up the rebounding advantage 18-10 and allowing New Orleans to score 32 in the period with all the Pelicans’ field goals coming in the painted area.

Oklahoma City would go down by as many as nine in the fourth.  With a 1:08 left in regulation and the Thunder down 109-116, a Thunder burst comprised of two Westbrook steals and two quick buckets, including a converted and one by George would bring the Thunder back within two points with 48 seconds remaining.

Coming out of a Thunder timeout, Russell Westbrook was unable to convert on a highly contested 25 foot 3-point attempt from the wing.  Forced to foul, Julius Randle gifted the Thunder two missed free throws giving Oklahoma City one last opportunity with nine seconds left.  Alex Abrines would get the nod for the final shot to win the contest but went on to come up short on a 3-point attempt from the wing.

In a game that saw 17 lead changes and 12 ties, the Thunder went down by five to start the fourth and never regained the lead.  Several factors played into the Thunder dropping this very winnable contest.  Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s loss.

 

Jerami Grant has become an integral part of the Thunder team identity.

The Thunder were neck and neck with the Pelicans through two quarters, but New Orleans began to create separation in the third largely due to two quick whistles less than 2 minutes in that left Grant sidelined for most of the second half with two personal fouls.  Take a look at the shots the Pelicans converted in the first half versus those converted in the second half courtesy of NBA.com.

Grant logged nearly seventeen minutes in the first half of Wednesday night’s ball game.  During the first half of the contest, the Pelicans offensive attack was more balanced, attempting 18 field goals outside the paint while attempting 28 in the key.  The second half, by contrast, saw the Pelicans cut the number of attempts outside the paint in half, shooting only 9, while getting up an astounding 42 shots in the painted area, 14 more than the Thunder allowed in the first half.  The third quarter offers an even more stark revelation, as all the Pelican’s points came in the paint while Grant rode the pine the last 10:11 of the third frame.

Jerami Grant has become a crucial piece on the defensive end for the Thunder, reeking havoc around the rim on the defensive end while also developing a keen ability to draw charges from slashing opponents.  His presence on the floor is palpable, as his length and athleticism disrupt offensive rhythm and is central to the Thunder getting the stops and creating the turnovers necessary to get out in the open court and control the pace of the game.

Grant has also upped his offensive game exponentially so far during this 2018-2019 campaign.  Not only has he improved his three point shooting percentage from 29 percent last season to a team leading 38 percent so far in 2018, he’s doing it on more than double the attempts, giving the Thunder a much needed bit of perimeter shooting on a team that otherwise ranks 29th in the league in that metric.  While there are no delusions of Grant transforming into a prolific Klay Thompson like sniper from deep, his consistency from behind the arc is much needed on a team that has yet to find any semblance of efficient perimeter shooting.

When Grant left early in the third on Wednesday night, Anthony Davis and the Pelicans asserted themselves physically and created separation between their team and the Thunder.  Grant’s presence on the floor would have been a mitigating factor in preventing this latest road loss.

 

The Thunder were outrebounded by a significant margin

The Thunder have been spectacular cleaning up the glass through 26 games in 2018-2019.  For a team that shoots the 29th worst clip in the NBA from distance, in a league increasingly defined by a team’s ability to shoot the three, extra possessions are often the difference between winning and losing games.  The Thunder are dominating the glass, snagging 48.5 rebounds per game, third highest total in the Association.  The Pelicans are a formidable force on the glass themselves, currently fourth in rebounds per game with 47.7.

The Thunder lost the battle of the boards by a significant margin Wednesday, only managing to grab 39 total rebounds while only giving themselves nine extra opportunities on the offensive glass.  While the Thunder fell far below their season mark by nine and a half boards, the Pelicans exceeded their average by nearly the same margin, pulling down 56 (17 on the offensive end) on the night and eclipsing the Thunder on the glass by a staggering 17 rebounds.

Paul George spearheaded Oklahoma City’s efforts on the boards, rounding up 11, however, no other Thunder player would break double digits in the metric with Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams each grabbing only six, on a night when Anthony Davis and Julius Randle combined for 30 boards, eight on the offensive end.

Jerami Grant’s absence certainly was a contributing factor to the Thunder’s poor performance on the glass, however, on a night when Anthony Davis wrangles 18 himself, it’s imperative that Adams, Noel, and Patterson, who collectively combined for only 12 rebounds, place a greater premium on rebounding the basketball in a game that ultimately came down to one possession.

 

Poor shooting continues to plague the Thunder

Russell Westbrook is having the worst free throw shooting season of his career and the bad mojo seems to be rubbing off on his teammates.  It was an uncharacteristically bad night from the charity stripe for number zero Wednesday, as the Brodie only managed to attempt 5 free throws, converting only two for an abysmal 40 percent from the line.  The team didn’t fare much better, missing 10 of their 27 attempts, converting only 63 percent, and again leaving points on the floor in a close matchup.  For the season, the Thunder come in at 27th in the league on freebies shooting a tepid 70.8%.

For their part, the Thunder converted a respectable 48.3% of their field goal attempts on the night but, again, shot poorly from three point range, chucking up a season high 43 attempts from distance and only converting on 13.  For a team that shoots the three so poorly, the Thunder are far from hesitant to fire away, often resulting in long rebounds, one and done trips down the floor, and ultimately, extra possessions for the opponent.  The Thunder missed 30 shots from distance on the evening but their typically stellar rebounding was not able to bail them out in this outing against another quality rebounding club.

Even as the Thunder had an opportunity to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds of the game, the ball found itself in Westbrook’s hands 25 feet away from the hoop in a heavily contested situation.  Westbrook, shooting just 22 percent from three on the year, launched a prayer that rimmed off and was quickly controlled by the Pelicans.  While the Thunder lucked out and had another opportunity to steal the game on an Abrines three from the wing, for all intents and purposes, the well covered Russell Westbrook three with thirteen seconds remaining and the game on the line was likely the last chance Oklahoma City had to leave New Orleans with a ‘W.’

Westbrook’s night from the line and, ultimately, his final shot of the contest are characteristic of  the problems the Thunder have faced all season; poor shooting, poor shot selection, and poor free throw shooting.  While the Thunder are not likely to turn into the Warriors from behind the arc any time soon, better shot selection and a greater emphasis on converting from the free throw line will be the difference between winning and losing close games, especially on the road.

 

Final Thoughts

The fact that the Thunder found themselves in a position to win last night’s contest with under 10 seconds left to play is a testament to just how explosive this team can be.  The Thunder were without Jerami Grant for much of the second half, were significantly outrebounded on the night, chucked up far too many threes, and shot poorly from the line, yet still found themselves in a position to emerge the victor, twice, but were unable to convert.

Oklahoma City did not turn in their best performance of the season, not by a long shot. There are no moral victories and Wednesday is no exception, but, the Thunder still managed to put themselves in a position to win late in the game.  Had Jerami Grant not been marginalized with five fouls early in the second half, the Thunder would have likely escaped with the ‘W.’  With just a marginally better performance rebounding the basketball, free throw shooting, or better shot selection, the Thunder could have prevailed even in spite of his absence.

Still early in the season, the Thunder have ample opportunity to learn from this game and improve moving forward.