The Thunder played two average to below average NBA teams the past two games. Both were wins. But one was far more stressful than the other.
This Thunder team, it seems, is gonna put up loads of points on a night-to-night basis. It had 112 in the opener, 139 in the second game and 117 in the third. There are weapons everywhere. Triple-digits may become a near certainty.
So OKC’s success will typically hinge on its defense. Against the Nuggets, the Thunder played well on that end, bringing extreme energy and focus. They blew Denver out with ease. But against the Magic, the Thunder was a step behind most of the night. The defense was lazy. Orlando scored 117 regulation points. Without some bailout performances and fortunate breaks, OKC would have lost. Defense would have been to blame.
Below is a quick film room look at the past couple games, checking in on some early season trends with this Thunder team. And we’ll start there — with the defensive difference in the past two wins.
Defensive breakdowns
Much of the Thunder’s late-season defensive struggles last year were rightly blamed on depleted personnel. Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant were out. Nick Collison missed some time. All three have returned. The deck is stacked. But the players still need to perform. For most of the Magic game, they didn’t. Ibaka and Steven Adams — about as stout a defensive frontline as you’ll find — were roasted by the Magic big men in the first half. Nic Vucevic had 18 points on 9-of-9 shooting. OKC gave up 38 paint points in the first 24 minutes. It was a parade to the rim with little resistance.
Check out this pair of plays as an example:
Against the Nuggets, that changed. Denver shot 38 percent. Much of that was because of Thunder disruption. When fully healthy, OKC remains one of the rangiest and most athletic teams in the league. That’s led by Ibaka, but not limited to him. Russell Westbrook is a bulldog when he wants to be, Andre Roberson is a perimeter stopper and Durant’s length can’t be taught. He’s a near 7-footer capable of sliding laterally with guards and bothering centers with his waving limbs. Below is a great example. Early in the first quarter, the Nuggets caught Durant on a switch. Denver center Joffrey Lauvergne notices it, tries to body up Durant and calls for a post-up. Durant holds his own, forces an off-balance hook shot and wipes it away with an authoritative shot-block.
This was the Thunder’s lineup late in the first quarter on Sunday night: D.J. Augustin, Dion Waiters, Kyle Singler, Nick Collison and Enes Kanter. Not a particularly athletic bunch, by NBA standards. Not a group with the greatest defensive reputation. But this next play is an example that while athleticism is helpful on defense, it’s not a requisite. Ibaka can get burned if he’s out of position. The aforementioned group can force a well-defended 3-second violation if they remained focus and rotate within the team concepts for an entire shot clock.
But, of course, it always helps to have a human eraser. Serge Ibaka had five blocks on Sunday. Four came during the second quarter. Two of them were the type of volleyball spikes that’ll destroy a team’s will to go to the rim:
D.J. Augustin is playing some ball
Cam Payne is the future backup point guard for the Thunder. But D.J. Augustin is the present. And after three games, it’s becoming increasingly harder to argue with that decision. Augustin is playing fantastic through three games. He has 34 points on 19 shots. He’s spread around 11 assists. He’s made six of his nine 3-point attempts.
And that isn’t empty production. Much of what Augustin has done has been meaningful. Donovan went small down the stretch against the Magic. He stuck with a two point guard lineup, leaving Augustin out there with Westbrook. It paid off. OKC won the quarter 42-24, forcing overtime. Westbrook was phenomenal. But Augustin was quietly important, too. He made a pair of key plays, shown below:
First with his creation. Augustin slices into the lane, draws the defense and finds Enes Kanter on a nifty wraparound pass. Augustin and Kanter seem to have nice chemistry in that second unit. One can pass, the other can catch and finish. Great combo.
Now with his scoring. Here is Augustin, with 2:30 left and OKC down eight, confidently running the offense, darting into the lane and tossing in a crucial bank shot.
Crisp passing
The Thunder had 32 assists on Sunday night. That’s one more than their season-high all of last year. Billy Donovan’s system is still a work in progress. There was a relapse to some necessary hero ball late in Orlando. That will happen again. But the ball movement and body movement, in general, has been better. More consistent. This next play results in zero points. Augustin misses the 3. But check out what got him the open look. Off some nice action, Augustin feeds an open Kanter in the post. Thunder bodies shift around him and the Magic are forced to help and then scramble. Kanter kicks it back out and the Thunder whip it around, from Durant to Waiters to Augustin, who had cut to the opposite corner. Good offense, great look:
A flowing system is nice. But to create easy shots in the NBA you have to possess dynamic playmakers. The Thunder has Westbrook, one of the league’s leading assist men, and Kevin Durant, a scoring savant who commands loads of attention and has the natural ability to see over the defense and pass out of double-teams. From James Harden to Reggie Jackson, OKC always also had a playmaker coming off the bench. Dion Waiters is a bit underrated in that area. When willing, he’s a solid passer with good vision. Waiters has had multiple assists in the first three games, including four on Sunday. Check out these two, coming within 30 seconds of each other, both on the fastbreak:
Out of timeout
Billy Donovan is only three games into his NBA coaching career. But the early results on his out-of-timeout plays are positive. That was often a critique of his predecessor. A lack of creativity, particularly late in games. Time will tell if Donovan has more success. But the early results are positive. As part of the madness in Orlando, Kevin Durant hit a game-tying 3 with 13 seconds left. It came on a sideline out of bounds play after a break, off a nice pindown screen from Steven Adams that freed Durant at the top of the key. Not the greatest defense by Orlando. But in that situation, to get Durant this look, credit to the design.
It isn’t limited to late-game situations either. Here’s a first quarter play from the Orlando game. The Magic had gone on a run. Donovan called a timeout to stem momentum. Then out of it, the Thunder get an easy hoop. Westbrook springs free for the inbound, Durant gets it after a quick back screen and, once the help comes, he fires it to a cutting Adams for an uncontested jam.
The tough shots are the most memorable. But the easy baskets are worth the same. A team that does both can be a deadly offensive combo.
Source: http://m.newsok.com/article/5457626
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