SAN ANTONIO -- Early on in the Thunder’s clash with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon, the game looked like a layup line for Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club. It didn’t stay that way for all 48 minutes, but in the opening 10 minutes, the Thunder pushed the pace in transition, found open teammates and got shots up near the rim.
Unfortunately just six of its 11 first quarter layups went through the net, but the tempo was a sign that the Thunder is serious about getting out into the open floor every single night.
“When we can get out in transition, that’s the best thing for us,” said Steven Adams, one of the league’s best rim-running centers. “For the defense, it’s a much harder job to matchup…In transition you get mismatched so much, you can find loopholes in their defense. That’s what we try and do, make sure our pace is good.”
The question remains, can the Thunder maintain that type of pace and tempo for all four quarters? And do they want to?
“I believe we can,” guard Andre Roberson stated. “We just have to keep working on staying aggressive and coming out in the third quarter strong. Those are areas we know we have to continue to get better at and come out with the same mentality.”
It wasn’t the prettiest professional basketball game ever witnessed in Cleveland, for either side, on Sunday afternoon. But despite the loss that snapped a three-game winning streak by the Thunder, the team had some positives to take away from the performance, it’s first game without Enes Kanter in the rotation as he recovers from the broken bone in his arm.
- Here’s Roberson on the Thunder’s loss to Cleveland: “I’m kind of encouraged. We didn’t have our greatest game but we still were in the fight. The second unit brought us back in that third quarter and got us within seven. It shows us where we can be at and where we can continue to grow. It’s a great stepping stone and foundation for us to get better.”
Thunder Talk: Andre Roberson - Jan. 30
One of the standout players in the absence of Enes Kanter was Joffrey Lauvergne, who finished some tough hook shots on post ups around the rim but also finished on dunks as he dove to the bucket. The French forward finished with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds and an assist in 21 minutes.
- “The guards found him underneath the basket and he finished. He was aggressive and did a good job on the defensive end,” Adams said of Lauvergne. “He’s just playing his game. That’s always what he’s been doing. Last night we found him more times than not.”
After practice, Roberson was planning to visit with some of his family members who still live in San Antonio, where he grew up. Roberson attended Wagner High School and was a part of some very prominent teams during his high school years, when he played along fellow NBA guard Jordan Clarkson. To this day, people in the San Antonio area still remember Roberson’s contributions to the local basketball scene.
- “It’s cool seeing the impact I have on people here. It’s special,” Roberson said. “I don’t take it for granted. It’s such a blessing to be in this position.”
On Tuesday night the Thunder will take on the San Antonio Spurs, concluding a month of January that featured 12 road games, with just three games at Chesapeake Energy Arena. It also will be the first matchup between the Thunder and Spurs since an epic six-game Western Conference Semifinals series in which the Thunder came back from a massive Game 1 loss and won four out of the next five games. Part of the reason for the team’s success was Andre Roberson’s defense on Kawhi Leonard, who certainly scored but was not nearly as efficient as normal. In three out of the six games, Roberson helped hold Leonard to under 40 percent shooting from the field.
- “We did a lot of fundamental stuff my first year and continue to grow each and every day in practice,” Roberson explained of how his diligence and consistent work helps him get better each year. “It’s a stepping stone to get better and build off of that.”
An opponent from last year who won’t be on the floor is NBA legend Tim Duncan, who battled the Thunder relentlessly year after year during his hallowed career. One of Duncan’s greatest admirer’s is Adams, who is bummed about not facing the legendary #21 anymore.
- “That’s my boy. It’s going to be weird,” Adams beamed. “I used to learn most of the stuff off of him. He didn’t teach me, just playing him, seeing what he does, different tricks, how he seals and all that sort of stuff. He will be missed.”
Steven Adams on the Spurs: