For the second time in the past five days, the Oklahoma City Thunder took on the Brooklyn Nets, this time in the Big Apple.
OKC’s typically potent offense was slow getting out of the gate, scoring only two points in the first three minutes. The Thunder’s poor offensive start set the tone for the rest of the period. With poor shooting and uncharacteristic turnovers plaguing them early, OKC found themselves trailing 39-21 after the opening quarter.
Brooklyn took advantage of OKC’s bad start. Led by Nic Claxton, the Nets shot 62% from the field in the first, feasting on fastbreak opportunities and racking up eleven early free throws, easily overpowering OKC down low and beginning a trend that would haunt the Thunder later on.
OKC’s offensive woes continued in the second. Oklahoma City continued to miss shots from three, and Brooklyn flamethrower Cam Thomas lived up to his reputation, scoring ten points in the quarter and grilling any defender the Thunder threw at him.
The typically reliable three-point shooting of OKC remained dormant until the 4:57 mark in the second quarter, when Jalen Williams hit a catch-and-shoot three in transition. The lid was finally of the basket for the Thunder, at least from downtown, but generating reliable offense continued to be a struggle.
The OKC offense continued to operate groggily, it’s early season rebounding struggles returned, and Brooklyn’s offense continued to dominate, and this combination, along with OKC’s abysmal three point shooting allowed Brooklyn to extend it’s lead.
The teams offenses were on opposite ends of the pendulum in the first half. Brooklyn scored a season high 75 points, shot 55% from the field and 47% from three, and only turned the ball over six times. OKC scored only 47 points, shot an average 45% from the field, and a dismal 13% from three, while turning it over eight times.
The first half couldn’t have gone any worse for the Thunder, and the second was more of the same.
The defensive intensity and outside shooting that defined OKC throughout the first 32 games of the season were nowhere to be found. Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie was getting open three’s whenever he wanted them, and on the rare occasion OKC ran him off the line he got to the rim with little to no resistance.
Shai Gilegeous-Alexander was OKC’s only reliable source of offense, playing his usual part of professional scorer with limited help from his typical sidekicks.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. were able to cut the lead down to 21 near the end of the third, but Brooklyn seemed to respond with a three every time OKC started to garner a bit of momentum.
The final play of the third quarter was a perfect encapsulation of OKC’s night as a whole.
Behind an offensive explosion from Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder had a chance to get within 20 as the quarter came to a close. Gilgeous-Alexander waited for the clock to run down to about eight seconds before darting to the rim, drawing the defender off of knockdown shooter Cason Wallace, who was waiting in the corner. Gilgeous-Alexander of course saw Wallace and fired a pass perfectly into his shooting pocket, giving OKC a chance to claw within 18 and grab the momentum heading into the fourth quarter. Wallace rose up for the jumper, but instead of the shot going in as it has so many times over his first 32 games as an NBA player, it doinked off the side of the backboard.
Whenever OKC gave itself a chance, it seemed to fumble it out of bounds, miss a wide open three, or throw it directly to outstretched arm of a Brooklyn defender.
The Nets led 101-79 at the end of three, leaving OKC in need of a miracle if a comeback was in the cards.
Williams tried his best to singlehandedly make that miracle happen.
“J-Dub” went on a personal tear to start the final quarter, taking Brooklyn defenders to school on all three levels, along with playing lockdown defense and picking up his man well above the three-point line.
His efforts allowed for OKC to have a chance late. With Williams on a heater, and Gilgeous-Alexander being the offense force he is, a once insurmountable lead seemed shockingly surmountable as the end of the game grew closer.
The mid-2000’s-feeling midrange mastery of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams allows them to get to the rim at will when their shot is falling, and the combination of tough jumpers and surprisingly open layups by the tandem shrunk the Brooklyn lead to just six late in the game.
OKC successfully nickel-and-dimed its way to having a chance to pull off a win in a game in which it played nowhere near its best basketball for the second straight game, and for the second straight game it got the same result.
Key offensive rebounds by Brooklyn were able to fend off the Thunder’s comeback bid. The most notable of them was when OKC had a chance to get the ball back and continue a run that had seemed impossible to go on just minutes earlier. The Nets missed yet another shot, and the seas were seemingly parting for OKC to sneak in the back door and get out of Brooklyn with a win.
The ball bounced off the rim right into the hands of Josh Giddey, one of OKC’s best rebounders, and only Dennis Smith Jr., a 6’3 guard, was near him. Just then, Smith Jr. reminded everyone of the athleticism that once made him a top ten pick and a dunk contest participant. Smith Jr. skied over Giddey, seemingly ignoring the fact he was six inches shorter than him, and tipped the ball in, ending whatever positive momentum OKC had attained immediately.
Due partially to that basket, Brooklyn held on to defeat Oklahoma City 124-115, handing OKC its second straight loss and once again placing the Thunder’s inability to prevent other teams from grabbing offensive rebounds under a microscope.
Some blame a lack of size for the issue, and it is partially to blame, but in the case of Smith Jr., OKC was simply outworked.
Giddey is known to be a good rebounder, but he didn’t box out well on the play, which allowed a player who despite his awe-inspiring jumping ability, had no business getting that particular rebound to tip it in.
In the long, winding road of an NBA season, two losses in January will be easily forgotten, but if OKC doesn’t do something to fix it’s rebounding, whether it’s internal or external, it’s hopes of competing with teams like Los Angeles and Denver over the duration of a seven game series are nothing more than a distant dream.
