The Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time this week. The T-Wolves squeak away with another tight win over the Thunder, 119-116. It was a back and forth game, but the Wolves used a late run the hang on for the win. The Thunder record is now 2-3 on the season and falls to 0-2 in against the Timberwolves. Here are my five biggest observations from tonight’s Thunder loss.
1. The Thunder scored enough points to win tonight. If OKC can score 116 points in a game, they should win. Plain and simple. But the Thunder allowed the Wolves to shoot nearly 49-percent from the floor and to connect on eight of 22 from three. But probably the worst thing that OKC did tonight was defense rebounding. Overall, the Thunder were out rebounded 44-35 and the Wolves grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, making it easier for them to get second chance points. The Wolves have a traditional front court with Karl-Anthony Towns and Taj Gibson. With the Thunder playing small with Carmelo Anthony at the power forward, the Thunder aren’t as strong at defensive rebounding. Towns and Gibson grabbed 12 offensive boards combined. Taj had five and Towns had seven. Meanwhile, Melo only had two rebounds overall tonight. That is an issue. Last game, Melo had 10 boards and the Thunder won. OKC needs Anthony to be a better rebounder if he is going to play the four.
2. Russell Westbrook was not great tonight. He had a really nice stat line, scoring 27 points on another efficient shooting night, going 10-18 from the field and one-of-three from behind the arc. He had eight rebounds and recorded nine assists. But he had eight turnovers, which is glaring. He was careless with the basketball and it prevented the Thunder from getting in a good flow and limited some Thunder scoring opportunities. Again, the Thunder scored enough to win, but in tight games like these, every possession is important and if the Thunder had four extra possessions they might have been able to come away with a win tonight.
3. Tonight was Paul George’s best night with the Thunder. He scored 23 points on eight-of-16 shooting and he made three of his six three point attempts. He also brought in five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. It was a good night for George after the foul trouble he had on Wednesday night. He even had a nice two-man game going with Steven Adams in the pick-and-roll. George was able to find Adams rolling to the basket for some easy buckets. It was the most comfortable he’s looked this season and I think he is getting more comfortable with his new team. He is still defending nicely on the other end of the floor, coming up with steals and getting his hands in the passing lanes. Hopefully this will launch Paul into playing better and better going forward.
4. Steven Adams continues to be a monster in the early stages this season. Adams scored 20 points on eight-of-10 shooting and was perfect from the free throw line hitting all four of his attempts. Adams finished with eight boards, six of which coming on the offensive end. Westbrook is continuing to find Adams rim running and now PG is also looking for him. Adams has been excellent so far and the Thunder need him to continue to play this way if they want to become a true contender in the Western Conference.
5. Something that caught my eye in the preseason was the play of Andre Roberson. He seemed lost and out of sorts. He has lost all confidence since he air mailed two straight free throws Sunday night. He also hasn’t played defense like he is capable of. And that is why he only played 10 minutes in tonight’s game. It appears that Billy Donovan isn’t going to play Dre if he isn’t playing well on the defensive end of the floor. He has been using both Jerami Grant (who played 27 minutes tonight) and Josh Huestis (who played 15 minutes tonight). Tonight was a perfect matchup for Andre to be playing. PG and Dre should be able to easily matchup with either Jimmy Butler or Andrew Wiggins. But with Dre not playing well, Wiggins had a big night Sunday and then Butler had a great night tonight, scoring 25 points on just 10 shots. If Dre was on the floor defending as well as we know he can, I find it hard to believe that he couldn’t have made a difference in both games. But Dre can’t be on the floor if he isn’t defending and it is creating a little bit of a hole in the Thunder defense.
The Thunder will be back in action tomorrow night in Chicago to take on the Bulls. Tip time will be at 7 p.m. inside the United Center.
