OKC Thunder Have To Play As Team, Not Rely On 1-On-1 Ball
The Oklahoma City Thunder did not play as a team and that is what did them in as they were blown out of Game 1 by the Houston Rockets.
The Oklahoma City Thunder started out well in Game 1 against the Houston Rockets on Sunday, but in the end the Rockets were too much.
When Steven Adams knocked out Patrick Beverley in the middle of the third quarter, that woke a beast.
Beverley single-handedly gave the Rockets a double-digit lead at 6:10 in the third quarter when James Harden found him in the corner for a three-pointer. Beverley excited the crowd and the Rockets never looked back, going up 73-62.
The reason the Thunder lost most of all was because the ball was just sticking.
Early in the game, Russell Westbrook took a three and it missed. The Thunder got an offensive rebound and Westbrook took another three and missed again.
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Instead of getting other players involved, the team was just watching Westbrook and not moving the ball to put pressure on the Rockets. If the Thunder are going to win the series, they have to make sure the whole team gets in on the action.
The Rockets do everything that is necessary to win and play team ball in a team game. They always make the extra pass and every movement is to create a better shot for the next man.
If the Thunder are going to take it to the next level, that is what they have to do.
If you give the Rockets what they prepared for, which is Westbrook 100 percent of the time all the time, then Oklahoma City will get swept.
In the box score the glaring stat was the fact that Houston out-rebounded the Thunder 56-41.
With the Rockets sacrificing three-point shooting for height, it was thought that the boards would be won for the Thunder every night, but it was a different story in Game 1.
Russell Westbrook (11) and Andre Roberson (seven) had more rebounds than Taj Gibson (1one) and Steven Adams (five).
If the Thunder want to win games in these playoffs, they have to be able to get more rebounds than the team they are facing and they have to get more rebounding production out of their bigs.
Efficient rebounding stops possessions and that is what the Thunder need to negate the Rockets' shooting.
The Thunder are also being out-coached. Billy Donovan is just not putting players in the position they need to be successful.
Victor Oladipo is a player that likes to be in transition and go up and down the floor.
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Donovan should be letting him fly up and down the court and let him play pressure defense.
Alex Abrines played 20 minutes, but only took two threes and that's it. Abrines should have been involved in the game plan more and played earlier than he did.
For a team that lacks three-point shooting, they need more play from their three-point shooters.
You would think Westbrook would be a player that is a floor general and doesn't need the coach to draw up plays for him, but there should have been more effort to get Westbrook and Adams in more pick and roll action.
That two-man game would have been something that put heavy amounts of pressure on the Rockets because of Adams' size and Westbrook's skill.
All is not lost for the Thunder because they are guaranteed three more games to save their season, but if they do not play as a team then the season could be lost.