Monday NBA Roundup: Oklahoma City Thunder Cough One Up Against Desperate Rockets
If you were so inclined, you could really fire up the hot-take machine in the wake of the Oklahoma City Thunder's 110-105 loss to the Houston Rockets.
Billy Donovan has the Thunder running the same stagnant sets that got Scott Brooks fired!
OKC can't expect to survive the West if it can't sustain a double-digit lead against the struggling Rockets!
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are better off apart!
Those are fun and all, but the truth is that the Thunder played a sloppy game against a desperate team that needed to avoid going 0-4. When you look at it that way, a five-point loss on the road to one of last year's conference finalists isn't the end of the world.
But let's talk about those turnovers.
Oklahoma City coughed up the rock 24 times against an undersized Houston lineup. Rockets head coach Kevin McHale went with Ty Lawson, Marcus Thornton, James Harden and Trevor Ariza on the perimeter around Dwight Howard, and that strategy helped create a little more switching and a lot more chaos against a sped-up OKC squad.
And while it's fair to cite Houston's 8-1 run down the stretch as the real turning point in the game, the Thunder had every opportunity to salt the contest away much earlier. But too many errors led to too many easy buckets for the Rockets. Houston scored 21 points off turnovers and put in another 16 points on the break.
Thanks to foul trouble and all those giveaways, Westbrook wasn't chatty after the game, per Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman:
The Thunder ranked fifth-worst in the league in turnover ratio coming into the contest, per NBA.com, but they had a perfect 3-0 mark anyway. So the giveaways obviously hadn't been fatal up until Monday night's result.
And if we take a broader view of what OKC is trying to pull off here—essentially integrating a brand-new set of offensive principles into an environment that basically didn't have any before—it's understandable that a little pressure from a desperate opponent could produce so many mistakes.
Durant didn't hide behind any of that, though, per Slater:
It also didn't hurt that Harden's effort was the first this year that could be described as "not awful," as he scored 37 points on 12-of-26 shooting. That scoring total trumped Durant's 29 and Westbrook's 25, though Russ chipped in 11 assists and eight rebounds to go with a stellar 10-of-16 shooting night.
But that's what Harden's supposed to do, and the Thunder, of all teams, can't be surprised by the Beard's breakout game.
At the risk of brushing up against those hot takes from earlier, it's worth at least mentioning that OKC has big dreams and big pressure this year; a loaded roster should contend for a title, and keeping Durant as a free agent could depend on how this season ends.
So it's important for Oklahoma City to avoid results like this. It out-shot the Rockets from the field, from three and from the line. It out-rebounded them by a margin of 55-34. Yet those 24 turnovers allowed Houston to get the extra possessions, confidence and momentum it needed to overcome a big deficit and secure its first win of the year.
The Thunder are going to be fine. In fact, they'll probably be much better than fine. Even in this one, they had a pair of looks at game-tying threes by Westbrook and Durant (though Durant's was an ill-advised heave) with seconds remaining.
But it'll be nice when they stop beating themselves.
Oh, and as an alternate theory: OKC lost the game because this D.J. Augustin play, Vined by BBallBreakdown, was not ruled a travel:
Basketball karma righted that wrong in the end.
Dunk History: LeBron James Edition
LeBron James became the youngest player in league history to reach 25,000 points, hitting the milestone on a fourth-quarter lob from Matthew Dellavedova in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 107-100 win over an admirably competitive Philadelphia 76ers squad on Monday.
James' two-hand flush was the one that got him into the record book, but an earlier jam rated a little better on the highlight meter.
He finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists in 33 minutes. Coupled with the athletic displays, those numbers suggest James is feeling pretty good these days.
That's good news for the Cavs, whose list of injured rotation players grew; J.R. Smith departed with a knee bruise after just four minutes.
Kawhi Leonard's Tour of Destruction Continues
He held Kevin Durant to 6-of-19 shooting on opening night and then smothered Joe Johnson into a painful 1-of-7 effort on Oct. 30. The Boston Celtics didn't offer up a suitable threat on Nov. 1.
So Kawhi Leonard was good and rested heading into Monday's tilt with Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks. As you might have suspected, this constituted very, very bad news for Melo.
Leonard was merciless in forcing Anthony into an ugly 19 points on 4-of-17 shooting in the San Antonio Spurs' 94-84 win over the Knicks, poking at the ball whenever it was exposed, denying Anthony touches whenever teammates looked for him and, most cruelly, flat-out stuffing what used to be some of Melo's most unstoppable shots.
This, via Seth Rosenthal of SB Nation, is not a shot that should be blocked:
It almost felt mean at some points, as the Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring noted:
While hurting Anthony's feelings, Leonard notched 18 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and four blocks on 8-of-16 shooting. Pretty solid effort, huh?
Get ready for some of the league's best wings to start coming down with "Kawhitis" when the Spurs are on the schedule.
Kristaps Porzingis' Cool Stuff Update
Kristaps Porzingis was bullied in the post once or twice and couldn't stay out of foul trouble against the Spurs. But he put up 13 points, 14 rebounds and a handful of highlights. This was the best one:
A scary fourth-quarter collision with Anthony caused concern as Porzingis' neck bent forward awkwardly, but he was able to walk off the floor under his own power.
Here's hoping he's fine and we see plenty more cool stuff.
The has been your "Kristaps Porzingis Cool Stuff Update."
The Warriors Are Not of This World
The Golden State Warriors won by 50. That’s a five and a zero. Fifty.
It was 119-69 if you care about the gory particulars.
And they mailed it in from, basically, midway through the third quarter after completely shutting down a Memphis Grizzlies team that won 55 games last year and held a 2-1 advantage against these Dubs in the playoffs.
It was a joke. Stephen Curry messed around for 28 minutes and scored 30 points on 16 shots. Golden State's defense held Memphis to 12 points in the second quarter and 15 in the third. The Grizzlies shot 27.1 percent on the night.
Again: It was a joke.
I’m going to get serious on you for a second.
These Warriors might be the best team ever.
They posted one of the highest margins of victory in league history on the way to 67 wins and a title last year...and now they’re clearly better. They're an easy 4-0 with all four wins coming against playoff teams from the West.
Curry is scoring more than a point per minute.
You have to buy the notion that NBA basketball continues to improve as the years go by, that the players get better training and the strategies get more advanced. You have to believe the basketball that's played today is better than the kind that was played 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago.
And if you believe that, which I do, you don't really have a choice. The Warriors are playing better than any team we've ever seen.
The Bucks Start Here
Good news: The Milwaukee Bucks got the first win of the season, a 103-96 road result over the Brooklyn Nets (who are now 0-4, by the by).
Better news: Giannis Antetokounmpo continued being a stud in what’s looking increasingly like his breakout year. He scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out three assists. He’s gone for at least 20 points and eight boards in all three games he’s played this season.
Best news: Second-year forward Jabari Parker was cleared to return from the torn ACL he suffered last December. He’ll suit up for the first time in nearly a year on Nov. 4.
The Wolves Said Goodbye to the Man Who Built Them
Flip Saunders will never be forgotten by the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, the players he coached or those whose lives he otherwise touched. The Wolves played a tribute video to their departed architect before Monday's home opener.
Yeah, we're not going to try to follow that.
