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If you wanted to call Game 4 must-win, I sure wouldn’t argue with you. Because in NBA Finals history, a team up 3-1 is 30-0 in finishing the series.
Scared? Worried? Freaked?
Yeah, me too. Game 4 is big. Lose it, and you’re facing elimination on the road. Lose it, and there’s a strong possibility the last home game in Oklahoma City this season featured the bad taste of a no-call that might’ve forced overtime. Lose it, and the door is closing.
1. True or False: Panic time.
Royce Young, Daily Thunder: False. But I will say, it’s close to that. It’s hard not to watch the way the last two games slipped away and think of major missed opportunities. The script has flipped. In the first three rounds, OKC’s opponents were playing the what-if game thinking of how they should maybe be up 3-1 or something. And now the Thunder are doing that. It’s never good to be playing the what-if game.
Patrick James, Daily Thunder: False. The Thunder recovered from being down 2-0 to the Spurs without home court. Being down 2-1 against Miami without home court isn’t easy, but it’s not harder than what OKC did in the last round. Panic would come if the Thunder lose on Tuesday. But the Thunder are only 48 minutes away from a win that changes the complexion of the entire series. They’re not far off. The series remains very much in doubt.
Clark Matthews, The Lost Ogle: False. If they lose Game 4, though, then freakout mode should commence.
2. Attribute blame for Game 3.
A. Scott Brooks
B. Officiating
C. Free throw shooting
D. James Harden
E. Something else
Young: E. All of the above, and more. Scott Brooks blew it with the way he handled the end of the third quarter. Sitting Durant with four fouls and OKC up six can be justified, but not sitting Westbrook alongside him. That was just an awful choice. Complaining about officiating is a sign of weakness, but there’s no way to ignore that Durant was handed two of the cheapest fouls of the postseason, which is what ended up forcing Brooks hand to sit him in the first place. Missing nine free throws when you’re a team that shoots 80 percent and leads the league is simply unacceptable and should be punishable by taser today at practice. James Harden can go 2-10, score nine points and look generally lost in the game. And the Thunder can’t score 21 points the last 16 minutes of Game 3 of the NBA Finals and expect to win. When you lose, there’s a lot of blame to be passed around. And there’s a lot of hands with blood on them.
James: C. Lots of things have added up to put the Thunder in a 2-1 hole. But give OKC just half of the missed free throws from Game 2 and Game 3 and we are talking about a completely different series. Sometimes it really is that simple.
Matthews: The adjustment they made in the second half to keep the Heat out of the lane was a good one, and that needs to continue early in game 4. Also, OKC has to keep Kevin Durant out of foul trouble. That has killed them in the past two games. When he was assigned to Mario Chalmers, good things happened in Game 3. KD was able to save some energy for his offense, he could play the passing lanes, and the treat of fouling was low.
So a bit of debate here. Given the momentum we had when KD got his 4th foul. Do you think Brooks should have left him in the game to try and sustain that momentum. Thinking being that what was a 7 point game felt on the verge of becoming a 15 point game. At which point you could afford to take KD out. Also at which point should he have picked up his 5th you had a better cushion to sit on than the fragile 7 point one.
Also is this debate moot if we don't linebacker tackle back to back 3 point shooters?
@ThunderBelize
I would have left him out there. He was just starting to heat up, and the team was pulling away when he sat with 4 fouls. What's the point of sitting him, only to lose the lead, and all the momentum. Game 2 the refs were reluctant to give him his 6th foul, he was able to play despite his foul trouble. By the time Durant got back in the game his shot was off, the Heat took the lead, and the entire offense was out of rhythm for the Thunder.
@ThunderBelize I was thinking exactly what you said in the last line while I was reading this post lol it was bonehead mistakes that let them back in it.
On sitting KD, I always sit a superstar in foul trouble. You have too. If you lose him early in a game due to fouls your are criticized even worse. And like I said before KD wasn't exactly playing smart while he was in foul trouble. He was really aggressive.
@ThunderBelize The thing people don't take into count with foul trouble is the other team attacks that player more. Especially a veteran team. You can say put Durant on Battier, but even Battier knows to go at Durant when he has 5 fouls. It's just asking to get Durant bounced out early
One thing that bothers me is the lack of offense the Thunder run. We all know and have heard this time and time again, but when they rallied against the Spurs I seen a resemblance of an offense. Dishing to guys with wide open looks. What I see against the Heat is Westbrook dribbling the ball at the top of the key waiting for Durant to flash open. And if that doesn't happen within 10 seconds we rush the shot. We are not playing any kind of team basketball right now.
I just realized Russell sitting on the bench in reality was more like 10-12 minutes rather than 5, makes me hate brooks even more.
Guys on a scale to 1-10 what's your confidence level for Game 4 victory based on what you've seen thus far? Mines is about a 7.
@kdub mine is a 7.5. theyre gonna come in locked in at this time more focused and determined imo
@kdub 7-8 they're focused but so are the heat
@kdub 11
@kdub Mine is 9 I am all but guaranteeing a win in game 5. I am patiently sitting back waiting for the Heat to implode while KD Harden and Russ step up and play like they should. No more stupid fouls, better FT shooting, better shooting from the field, and this series isn't even close.
@kdub err game 4 sorry
Lebron played excellent defense on Durant in the 4th, but he wasn't the only reason for shutting him down offensively. First of all, sitting a large portion of the 3rd quarter looked to me like it took Durant out of his offensive rhythm. The help defense from Bosh was key as well. Durant had a step on Lebron a few drives in the 4th, only to have Bosh step up and deflect/alter his shot. Perkins played a solid game, but Bosh was completely ignoring him to finish the game, allowing him to play great help defense on Durant.
@KoolKeith3000 Thunder do need to attack more. Maybe put them in our shoes for a change. Have all their guys in foul trouble and on the bench.
Perkins had decent numbers last night but he still kills us when he is in. The Heat don't make shots outside 10 feet and Perkins doesn't contest much of anything. Meanwhile we've got the best shot blocker in the league playing 20 minutes a game and when he's in he's chasing guys around running them over as they shoot 3 pointers. What's wrong with this picture?? Seriously. Add to that Perkins can't catch or shoot so Bosh sits in the lane and blocks shots with no hesitancy because he knows Perkins can hurt them. If Ibaka is in he at least has to respect him a little bit. Perkins is supposedly in because of his screens but both guys collapse on the ball so it doesn't matter if he crushes the guy guarding the ball because his guy sticks right to the ball handler. Brooks can't do anything about the goofy turnovers or missed free throws but he can give the team the best chance to win and Perkins playing 34 minutes a game doesn't give us the best chance!
@okcjim Perk played well last night, Brooks just stayed with him much too long. Ibaka should have been matched up on Bosh to finish out the game, instead of Perk. It was either game 1, or 2 against Dallas, where they tried the same defensive tactic with Durant. Down the stretch of the game, the big for Dallas ignored Ibaka, rotating over to Durant when he drove the ball. Durant played smart by dumping the ball to Ibaka for 2-3 nice dunks in a row, one of them was an and 1. Ibaka can also step outside the paint with his mid-range shot, giving Durant another option to pass if the lane is clogged. As hard as Perk played last night, he's an offensive liability to finish out games.
@KoolKeith3000 I agree
@okcjim Serge needs to play more but perk was not a major problem last night...about 10 more important problems last night that need to be fixed
@OBoymuzik @okcjim actually perkins was a problem, he let a ton of easy buckets that i feel like ibaka even durant would have properly contested at the rim. also the team has to overcompensate on defense because of his inability to rotate quickly
@Lost Ones He was the best big last night, 6 offensive rebounds, hit the 2nd most FTs on the team.
@kdub Playoff experience trumps ability.
Yes I been peeping the slow rotations but Brooks loves Perk and doesn't care about any of that. He said Perk has been great and for that, I know he is delusional!
@Lost Ones @OBoymuzik @okcjim Conversation ruling: In favor of Perk: 1. Not in favor of Perk: 2.
DTer's have spoken!
When they score all of their points at the rim and we can't get to the rim because Bosh it sitting there waiting for us it is a major problem.
Brooks needs to make the same speech after game 2 of the spurs series
Man lets go! Been on this board for every game...haven't missed not one! I hate coming so close to glory to see our guys struggle...Imma have to get on my knees and talk to the Lord about this series! We need to take it to these boys like never before in game 4 and play 48 minutes. Lets bring it back to OKC!!!
@kdub amen to that, brother!
@cleandoe @kdub Let's go!!!!
The media with a Lebron love fest...saying how he is shutting down Durant and what not...this series is really making me sick...between Brooks bad coach, Battier's shooting, missed free throws, and horrible officiating...I hate this series...don't have a good feeling about it! I need the Thunder to put me in a good mood tomorrow night!
@kdub LeBron kinda is shutting Durant down, as far as Durant can be shut down. When he goes off it's on other people.
@kdub Ya there hasn't really been much to be excited about. Lebron has done nothing as far as slowing down KD. It's the guys in the striped shirts shutting Durant down.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/scott-brooks-lot-explaining-game-3-161910924--nba.html;_ylt=AvyqVfFBGnhPZRvzrD2qEgY5nYcB
@Koka_Da_Bauce im ok with durant westbrook is the issue
@Lost Ones Yup.
@Koka_Da_Bauce @Lost Ones Well of course your not going to be confident with it against a starting lineup that's in the Finals lol but for a second unit coming onto the floor there isn't many better than that in the entire NBA. Those guys are capable of playing very well they just aren't.
How many times have we seen Harden/Collison tear a team up. Or Ibaka floating the baseline. That lineup can score with a lot of teams. Are they better? Of course not, but when you can't keep your star on the floor because of foul trouble and your hot headed PG is all over the place what can ya do?
@Lost Ones @Koka_Da_Bauce Ya that got me too. But when Westbrook is in self destruct mode what do you do? I feel confident that Collison/Harden/Fisher/Ibaka/Perkins can get points and some stops. That's a really good second line up fellas. The problem is Harden is struggling and he runs that show.
@Lost Ones Agreed - Substitute Perkins with either Durant or Westbrook and that line up would be okay
@Thunderbuzzy @Koka_Da_Bauce im not confident in that lineup against the heats starting lineup which they basically faced minus a few.
@Thunderbuzzy @Lost Ones @Koka_Da_Bauce They need to bring a collison up to the free throw line..They're trapping harden at the top. bad coaching at this point.
If Durant stays in and gets his 5th foul with 10 minutes to play in the 4th we are all screaming at Brooks. It's a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario. I would rather ensure myself of having Durant at the end of the game to make the tough shots then I would him sitting on the bench fouled out.
Durant has shown me he is not smart enough yet to play with foul trouble. He is competitive and it's in his nature to compete. But he has to be smarter with 3 fouls. Going up Haslems back for a rebound isn't what I call smart basketball in foul trouble. Sitting in front of Lebron to take a charge? You got to just get out of his way and let him make the dunk. He is going to get the call 90% of the time and everyone knows that.
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2012/06/18/20120618_shaq_charles_on_westbrook.nba/
- Keep Durant in the game. Move him off of Lebron.
- Felt Russ wasn't as agressive as he should be.
- Get Harden going early and often.
- No bone head fouls.
- Durant stop reaching when lebron gets those running starts. Its a waste of time to try to even go for the strip.
- We lost the intensity. Need to get fired up.
This team and Brooks seriously needs to get away from media. I think its affecting them and its getting in their heads.
@criznazy53 It's hard to get away from the media in the Finals. Our guys aren't comfortable with it but there is nothing you can do about it. They probably have reporters waiting outside their hotel room for them to open the door and bombard them
if the james/wade tandem wins a championship, scary to think of the calls the calls they will get going forward. couldn't be much worse than now I suppose, but okc hiring phil jackson may help counteract that if the two teams ever meet again in the finals. instill some championship credibility into a smaller market and maybe some more respect on the big stage.
@thunder_fan_in_korea we are not hiring phil jackson
@Lost Ones ha, didn't know sam presti posted on this board
@sutpen when you allow phil jackson to coach he is not only the coach he is also the team president and gm.
@Lost Ones if he is looking to coach again, it would be silly not to entertain the idea.
@thunder_fan_in_korea he hates okc, he would not let the lakers stay overnight here
Would you take or leave a trade that sent Westbrook and Perkins to Orlando for Dwight Howard? We'd move one of our Big 3 off the perimeter and into the post for more balance. Howard and Ibaka down low would be scary. Maynor is going to be a starter at some point, for someone.
@leighj only if dwight agrees to an extension
@f5alcon @leighj Just looking at what Westbrook and Harden can become, I think I would rather have them anyways. Harden is only in what his 2nd year? And there is talk about him being a max guy already? Not that he is deserving of one yet but there is talk about it. I think we will look back at this Thunder team a few years down the road and it will look like an all star team. I just think it's a little early in some of the players career to see it now.
I see Ibaka, Harden and Westbrook being perennial all stars along side Durant on a different team.
@leighj
So he could leave after a year? No thanks.
@anonymous12345 #Loyalty.
@anonymous12345 @leighj that's why you do sign and trades.
@Lost Ones
A player has to agree to a sign and trade. If Howard is willing to sign long term here, then I'd be ecstatic, but lets not kid ourselves, its not going to happen.
@anonymous12345 @leighj As a Thunder fan I want no part of Dwight Howard. He would ruin this team. His ego and his attitude is completely the opposite of what the Thunder have.
@leighj leave but i would take a trade that sent harden and perkins for dwight.