BROOKLYN -- In the NBA, no team ever has each aspect of the game completely under control. That was especially true for the Thunder tonight, in two key areas – points in the paint and second-chance points.
Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club fell to the Brooklyn Nets 116-106 on Sunday in a game that was pushed back three hours due to the massive blizzard that struck New York City over the weekend. The Thunder didn’t get a chance to practice, shootaround or walkthrough prior to the contest, but after the game the team gave no excuses, rather acknowledging that it was simply an uncharacteristic performance all around.
“We didn’t do things on a sustained, high enough level for a long enough period of time,” Donovan said. “We battled and fought and our guys played hard, but we couldn’t keep it together and keep it going.”
The Thunder never led in the game, but kept making mini-bursts to try and strike close. Each one seemed to be thwarted by a loose ball going Brooklyn’s way, a Nets offensive rebound or an untimely Thunder turnover that led to an easy bucket. For the night, Donovan’s group allowed 21 points off of 14 turnovers, 58 points in the paint and 25 second chance points off of 18 offensive rebounds.
“Over the course of an NBA season sometimes you have games where you’re not as good as you want to be,” Collison said. “We’re capable of playing much better but give Brooklyn credit. They played well and they made shots. They did some things that we had difficulty guarding and deserved to win.”
The Thunder had a chance when Russell Westbrook hit Serge Ibaka for a dunk, then the Thunder point guard snagged a loose ball and found Dion Waiters in transition for a layup to pull it back to within 98-93 with 6:17 to go. It got another defensive stop after a deflection, but couldn’t come up with buckets on the ensuing two possessions, while Brooklyn scored on a tip in and then a fall-away shot by Brook Lopez.
“We would have liked to have done better against him for sure,” Collison said of Lopez, who scored 31 points. “He was scoring in different ways – putting it on the floor, with post ups and jump shots.”
After a timeout, Kevin Durant’s 3-pointer missed short and Thaddeus Young hit a contested fall-away jumper with no time left on the shot clock.
Already missing Steven Adams for the second straight game due to an elbow strain, Andre Roberson went down with a right knee sprain in the second quarter after Westbrook collided into him on a layup attempt. Missing two of its starters, particularly two known for their defense, hurt. In their place, Kyle Singler, Nick Collison and Anthony Morrow saw their workload increase.
The Thunder knows that it has enough on its roster to compete regardless of the circumstances. While the team waits to hear about how long they’ll be without Adams and Roberson, it’ll be up to each man on the roster, and the team as a whole, to come together and play team-oriented, smart basketball.
“Just because you played well your last four or five games, it doesn’t mean you’re going to come out the next night and play well,” Collison explained. “You have to be engaged mentally and physically and be able to do it. We weren’t tonight, but we’re confident that we can play better in the next one.”
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By the Numbers
19 – Fast-break points for the Thunder, on 8-for-10 shooting
34 – Bench points for the Thunder, who got 10 from Cameron Payne on 4-for-5 shooting
59 – Combined points for Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, along with 21 rebounds and 14 assists - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“We were on a nice run there. Sometimes the progress you make, you have to take steps back before you can make strides forward.” – Head Coach Billy Donovan