MEMPHIS – In the final minutes, the Thunder was pressing. Literally picking up full court, but also chasing a game that only unraveled quicker the more the Thunder chased it.
Unfortunately for Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club, chasing the Memphis Grizzlies was a night-long duty. At the very outset of this 115-103 loss on Monday night, the Thunder’s defense had to play catch up to a Grizzlies squad that played with a much sharper, crisper tempo on offense and got off to a 16-2 lead behind a 7-for-7 shooting start.
“I don’t think there can be any excuses, having the two days in between the Toronto game. Obviously as a coach, when you have two days like that, you want to do the best job you can to help the team get prepared for what they are walking into,” said Donovan. “The disappointing part is that two nights ago, you could see the range of margin of how we can be on night and how we can be on another night. If you are going to be a great team, the one thing doesn’t allow greatness is inconsistency.”
Spearheaded by point guard Delon Wright, who was behind Russell Westbrook by a few years at Lawndale, California’s Leuzinger High School and went 4-for-4 early tonight, the Grizzlies put Westbrook and company on its heels with drives to the rim and dizzying ball movement for catch and shoot three-pointers.
The Thunder stumbled to its feet with a 10-2 response run, but Memphis countered with an 8-1 burst as it recorded assists on 10 of its first 12 made baskets while the Thunder made just 5-of-12 shots in the paint to start the game. The Thunder’s second unit, led by Dennis Schröder, was much better in the second quarter, extending a 7-0 start into a 10-2 run to take the Thunder’s first lead of the game at 34-33.
Memphis went scoreless for the first two and a half minutes if the period, but the Thunder struggled to make up ground as Russell Westbrook and Paul George combined to shoot 3-of-15 and then just 6-of-26 from the field to begin the night. Some shots were forced, but many were open looks at the rim or perimeter that didn’t go down. For the night, the Thunder shot just 40 percent, while allowing Memphis to take 11 more free throws and grab 16 more rebounds.
“We missed a lot of layup sand jumpers. We struggled to score. They were also struggling too, but they just kept playing the game and they were generating drives downhill,” said Donovan.
While the Thunder’s offense continued to come up empty, the Grizzlies re-took the lead with a 7-0 run, then followed it up with a devastating 19-7 start to the second half behind a quick 3-for-3 spurt from the three-point line. Memphis’ lead swelled to 18 and the Thunder was under pressure to get back in the game, and in a hurry. Westbrook charged a response, going 5-for-5 after a 1-for-12 shooting start, as the Thunder rattled off 9 points in 1:39 to slice that lead in half, then a driving Westbrook three-point play cut the Memphis lead to just 6 at 73-67 with just over four minutes to go in the period.
The Thunder found that reserve on energy it needed, but eventually reality of the time and score became a sixth man for the Grizzlies. After having pressed and hustled in the third quarter to make it a single digit deficit, the Thunder gave Memphis one more opening and the home team took it.
Midway through the fourth, the Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 9-3, making it desperation time for Donovan’s group. The Thunder pressed full court in the final two minutes, but the Grizzlies broke the press, finding the seams on its way to four layups in the final 120 seconds to send the Thunder home with a loss.
After the game, the Thunder was mostly steely-eyed, bearing the onus of responsibility on its own shoulders rather than pointing to the things Memphis did at a high level. From Donovan to George to Schröder to Westbrook, everyone in the locker room admitted that this type of performance can’t happen moving forward.
“We’re competitive. We know where we want to get to, we know where we want to be. We know that nights like tonight isn’t good enough,” said George. “It just goes to show that when we don’t come ready, we’re vulnerable against anybody.”
“We gotta play as a team, defend as a team, run as a team, do everything as a team,” said Schröder. “We gotta get better tomorrow at practice.”
Accompanying that message, however, was a reminder that this team has won 43 games and for the vast majority of the season has been a contender in the Western Conference playoff picture. Westbrook, the only member of the team who has been with the organization from the very beginning, put everything in perspective.
“I’m never worried. I never panic,” said Westbrook. “That’s my job as a leader to make sure we all understand that in 82 games you may have nights where you don’t have it. It happens like that sometimes. That’s not the identity of this team. I take full responsibility of how we come out, especially tonight. That’s my fault. As a leader I gotta make sure that I have my guys ready for games like this. I take full responsibility, especially in losses.”
“Everybody is so wrapped around how everybody thinks we should be playing or how you’re supposed be playing at this time of year,” Westbrook added. “As long as internally we’re fine, that’s why I don’t worry, regardless of what happens – win, lose or draw.”
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