Playmakers All Over the Floor in Northwest Matchup – OU Medicine Game Day Report: OKC vs. DEN

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Two defenders converge to the ball. A pass flies into the paint, and a decision gets made.

As NBA game plans laser in on Paul George and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder and Head Coach Billy Donovan’s staff is finding ways to leverage the oppositions aggressiveness against itself. While the incoming Denver Nuggets and center Nikola Jokic don’t always come with a double team on the ball, there will be times when the Thunder’s foes try to get the ball out of George and Westbrook’s hands. That’s when the Thunder’s role players are primed to strike.

“The whole notion behind how teams want or think that they’re going to stop us is just loading the paint up and getting the ball out of our hands,” said George. “Pick and rolls, we find the big. The big is the playmaker at that point and we just have to make the right play.”

Forwards like Jerami Grant and Markieff Morris and centers like Steven Adams and Nerlens Noel in years’ passed would be play finishers rather than playmakers, but in the modern NBA, big men as ball movers is more than normal. It’s a must. When the Thunder gets the ball moving and forces the defense to rotate, it can generate catch-and-shoot jump shots, which dramatically improve the chance of a bucket. Sticking with that ball movement is vital as the Thunder tries to outlast a potent Denver squad.

“It doesn’t make a difference if we are making or missing shots as long as we are generating good shots because we will make enough of them,” Donovan said. “It is all going to be about our defense.”

“It’s just getting that pocket pass and then making the next read. This team really likes to pack the paint, especially off the corners,” said Adams in his scout of Denver’s defense. “The corner should be open, and that person makes the play from there.”

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Defensively the Thunder must contend with the same type of playmaking it is wanting to generate itself. Jokic is an incredible creator for the Nuggets, with the ability to knock down jump shots from above the break, penetrate and finish off the dribble and also to find cutters and flaring shooters for buckets near the rim or behind the arc. The key for the Thunder is to be tied together to limit windows of opportunity for Denver to get easy baskets.

“Try and pressure (the Denver bigs) the best we can, extend their catches. Then it comes down to the guards being in the right position,” said Adams. “Their guards, they cut really well. They move off the ball really well. It’s a full team thing.”

“Just talking [and] communication,” said guard Terrance Ferguson. “Forcing them into tough shots and just some things like that and staying together, having each other’s back.”

A key for the Thunder in the game will of course be to prevent fast break points, second chances and easy layups, but it must also defend the three-point line at a high level. In Wednesday’s win over the Indiana Pacers, the Thunder was dominant in the third quarter, at one point forcing 14 straight misses as its opposition went just 1-of-8 from three in the period.

The reason was that the Thunder was in help position early and able to provide the threat of resistance on drives before getting back out to their own assignments. With potent shooters like Gary Harris and Jamal Murray on the floor for Denver, the Thunder will need to be vigilant about denying straight line drives but also getting back out to the perimeter to put a hand up.

“A lot of those come down to double stunting,” Adams began. “It’s being early in your load help, which makes it easier to close out to your guy.  If you’re not in your load help and then you try to run to help and then they kick it, that’s a half a second difference, that makes all the difference.”

SHOOTAROUND NOTES

- Jerami Grant has been effective for the Thunder all season long, but even since the All-Star Break his production has increased. The scoring is up a point to 14.1 per game, his rebounds are up to 5.8 and his assists are up to 1.4 per contest and most notably, he’s shot 42.9 percent from three-point range and 79.1 percent from the free throw line since the break.

- Grant has also provided some nice resistance at the rim for the Thunder, blocking 19 shots in 18 games since the break, while also making eight steals. As a long and rangy forward, it’s up to Grant to slide over in helpside position to interrupt shot attempts around the rim, but he also must be quick enough to spray back out to the perimeter to contest at the three-point line, then stay down on drives to either take a charge or hold up the penetration until help arrives.