For the first time in weeks, the Thunder look lost on offense, unable to get in a rhythm, and pretty nervous. Part of it is on Westbrook’s and Anthony’s bad night, and part of it on a really bad referees’ night.
The game itself has been ugly for both teams, no flow, a lot of fouls which led to a lot of free-throws attempts. The Thunder shot more free throws than the Wizards, but if we look closely, you can see that there have been a lot of head-scratching calls against Oklahoma City, and some obvious missed calls, especially on Westbrook.
Despite all of that, the Thunder didn’t play well in crunch time: poor shots selection and silly fouls (Adams – Huestis) helped the Wizards to get away with a win.
Five Thoughts
Paul George played a great game, he finished with 28 points, while shooting 8-14 from the floor, 4-8 from behind the arc, and 8-10 from the FT line. The only problem is that he took only three shots in the second half. This is unacceptable. Obviously is not George’s fault, Westbrook and Anthony took already responsibility during the post-game interviews, but also Donovan should have drawn some play up to get the ball in George’s hands.
Russell Westbrook had a really bad night. It has been a long time since his last bad performance, but at some point, it was meant to happen again. Westbrook finished with 13 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 7 turnovers. He went to the foul line only one time (2-2), and that’s most likely the reason he was pretty upset during the game. It’s really hard to understand how last year’s MVP can’t get fair calls, while other players go to the free throw line times after times.
Not only Westbrook had a bad night, but also Carmelo Anthony was a no-show yesterday. He played really bad defense, while on offense, he wasn’t able to hit shots with constancy. From behind the three points line, Anthony finished 2-12. There have been stretches during the game where I thought Patterson would have been more useful than Anthony, especially in the second half.
Donovan decided to finish the game with Josh Huestis on the floor. As crazy as it might sound, it was a good decision because Huestis has been excellent defensively on Beal. The only problem is that offensively Huestis seems not ready yet for close games. He made a couple of obvious mistakes in the last minute: first, he had an open pass to George in the corner, but instead of passing the ball to George, he drove to the basket, turned the ball over, and then directly foul Satoransky, who went 2-2 from the FT line. On the next possession, he missed an easy shot in the paint with the score 100-96 in Wizards’ favor.
Overall, it was just a bad night for the Thunder. It might happen here and there during an 82 games season. Oklahoma City is still adjusting after Roberson’s injury, it might take some time, but there is no reason to be worried about last night’s loss.
Stats
OKLAHOMA CITY
- FG% 37.5, 3P% 28.1, FT% 79.4, ASSISTS 19, REBOUNDS 52, STEALS 7, TURNOVERS 21
WASHINGTON
- FG% 38.2, 3P% 28.0, FT% 93.1, ASSISTS 27, REBOUNDS 43, STEALS 8, TURNOVERS 12
Up Next:
The Thunder will play on Thursday in Denver against the Nuggets, tip-off 9.30 p.m. CT
Cover Photo by Ned Dishman
