By Michael Doutey
The Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-112 Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder weren’t able to get enough stops in the final minutes of the game. The Thunder got the lead down to five points with 23.3 seconds to go and then Russell Westbrook stole the inbounds pass and got Alex Abrines a good look from three. But Abrines missed and instead of facing just a two point deficit with 15 seconds to go, the Thunder gave up a dunk at the other end and that was all she wrote. Here are tonight’s five observations from tonight’s loss.
1. Two Cavs Runs were the Difference
LeBron James went nuts in the third quarter. OKC got the Cavs lead down to five at the half, but LeBron scored 14 points in the opening few minutes of the third quarter. James ended up scoring 17 in the third. Now, the Thunder used a run of their own to take to lead back momentarily, but the Cavs closed the third quarter on a run to take a four point lead into the fourth. Then to start the fourth quarter, with LeBron on the bench, the Cavs started the quarter on a 9-0 run and the Thunder could really never recover. Both of those runs really set the tone for both quarters and OKC didn’t have “it” to make a comeback.
2. OKC’s Role Players Were Outplayed
The inconsistency of the Thunder’s role players reared it ugly head in this one. The Thunder went with Alex Abrines in the starting lineup and he did little to contribute to the game. He was held scoreless in his 23 minutes of action, going 0-3 from the floor and missing his two three point attempts. Abrines was less than awful on defense, but that’s just a nice way for me to say that he wasn’t very good. Raymond Felton played well early, hitting a couple three’s in the first half, but he didn’t play well at all in the second half, giving up two really bad turnovers. Patrick Patterson didn’t contribute much and I thought Josh Huestis was acceptable on defense. Really, Jerami Grant was the only role player who played well. He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting, but he went 3-6 from the foul line which killed some momentum. The Thunder need more for their role players. The Thunder won when those guys played well in Golden State. They were absent tonight and that contributed to tonight’s loss.
3. Russ Looked Rusty
Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony returned after missing nearly a week with ankle injuries. Melo looked to be himself, scoring 24 points on 10-22 shooting and 3-9 from three. But, Russell on the other hand look really rusty. He didn’t look to have to same explosion. His pull-up jumper he has patented looked off, much like in the beginning of the season. Russ tried to go with the bank shot too, but he looked awkward taking that as well. He really looked like he came straight from November and the Thunder looked a smidge off because of it. Even his handle was really sloppy and he had several balls dribble out of his hands and he had to try and recover the loose ball. He had a little stretch in the third quarter where he flashed some of his brilliance, but even that was short lived. Russ scored 21 points on 7-19 shooting and was 0-3 from three. He did dish out 12 assists compared to one turnovers and he grabbed seven rebounds.
4. 3 Point Defense Bites Again
The Cavs burned the Thunder in the first half from three. The Cavs made 16 in the game, but 10 of which came in the first half. The Thunder made just 11 in the game, which means OKC was outscored by 15 points at the three point line. The Thunder need to do a better job defensively at running guys off the three point line and forcing teams to take long two’s. The Cavs were able to drive the ball into the deep paint and play inside-out basketball. The Cavs had lots of good looks from three. This is where the Thunder really miss Andre Roberson.
5. Steven Adams Was a Monster
Steven Adams was an absolute beast tonight. He scored 22 points on 8-12 shooting. He also went 6-10 from the line, which is okay but could be better. But he owned the offensive glass tonight, grabbing 12 (TWELVE!!!!) of his 17 rebounds on the offensive end. At one point in the third quarter, where OKC was making a run and eventually took the lead, the Cavs couldn’t keep Steven off the glass. He was dominating the game. It was incredible to watch and the crowd absolutely loved it. We’ll see how Adams plays tomorrow against Marc Gasol. He played a team-high 42 minutes tonight and Steven has really struggled on second night’s of back-to-backs.
The Thunder fall to 32-26 on the season and are just barely holding onto the fifth seed in the Western Conference standings. The Thunder will be back in action tomorrow night in Memphis. Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside the FedEx Forum.
