Bucks suffocate the powerless Thunder, 85-78

BOX SCORE

I don’t know that I’d exactly call that missed opportunity because 1) the Bucks might not be as terrible as previously thought and 2) to miss an opportunity you probably need one to start with, and the way the Thunder played, they didn’t really have it after relinquishing a 10-point lead in the first quarter.

Four primary problems tonight:

1) The Thunder turned it over 16 times.

2) The Thunder allowed 50 of the Bucks’ 80 points in the paint.

3) The Thunder took only 19 free throws, and made just 14 of them.

4) The Thunder shot just 33.3 percent. And if you subtract Reggie Jackson (12-21), Kendrick Perkins (3-4) and Anthony Morrow (4-7) who were a combined 19-32, the Thunder shot an anemic 10-55 (18 percent). Serge Ibaka was 4-13. Jeremy Lamb was 2-13. Lance Thomas was 2-10. Steven Adam was 0-4. Nick Collison was 0-3. Sebastian Telfair and Ish Smith were both 1-6. The Thunder couldn’t make anything, and to make it worse, they quit running effective offense because of it. Scott Brooks noted that postgame — you think that when nobody is making anything you begin to isolate and let someone try to take over. But it’s the opposite. You have to keep working the ball, keep screening and keep moving and hope eventually it opens up.

Do those four things poorly and this team isn’t going to win. Reggie Jackson turned in a performance (29 points, four rebounds, four assists), but it looked like he was a man on an island tonight. Too many possessions broke down needing him to create or score, and there was simply not nearly enough executed offense. The Thunder got away from a lot of the flex/horns stuff they’d been running recently, and went with a lot more high pick-and-roll stuff. The Bucks didn’t have much issue defending it as they sagged and clogged the paint as much as possible, bringing a weakside defender off the corner to chip on the roll man.

Without any other secondary options for offense, and shots not falling for anyone, the Thunder just couldn’t find anything consistent offensively. When the game got away from them in the early fourth, they went a little more than four minutes stuck on 66 points. It’s not like the Bucks lit it up late or anything; they scored 16 in the fourth quarter. It’s just that the Thunder went completely limp.

After the win on Sunday against the Kings, it sure looked like the Thunder had a big chance to get to .500, or at least near it, with these next three games. At the Bucks, with the Celtics a night later, and then returning home to play the Pistons. They got Anthony Morrow back, albeit in a limited manner, and seemed to be picking up where they left off early on.

But let this one serve as another reminder of how difficult it is to win in the NBA, especially when you’re missing offensive weaponry. The Thunder have proven they can hang in defensively for the most part, but it’s about offensive execution, something they’ve never been particularly good at. And without the bailout options of Westbrook and Durant, the Thunder aren’t able to stumble into points as consistently as they’re used to.

The Bucks have defended pretty well so far this season, and didn’t make things easy on OKC. It kind of feels like one step forward, two steps back, because this wasn’t a playoff team beating up on the Thunder. This was one of those so-called winnable games, and the Thunder didn’t get it. Maybe they relaxed a bit, maybe they just played poorly. Or maybe, this just isn’t going to be that easy.

NOTES:

• Reggie Jackson’s first five games running the Thunder: 21.8 points (41.5 percent shooting), 7.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds. Record of the team, though? 1-4. That’s hardly Jackson’s fault, and that’s the next step of a player blossoming into more than just a good player, figuring out how to directly impact the win-loss column. Anthony Davis is learning that right now. But you deny Jackson’s numbers have been solid. Russell Westbrook’s best season he averaged 23.2 points (43.8 percent), 7.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds. Obviously five games does not a season make, but Jackson has proved thus far he can produce, at least statistically.

• With as much talking about movement and passing and not dribbling Brooks did postgame, it sure felt like another subtweet of Jackson.

• When Ibaka puts the ball on the floor, he has no idea what to do. He’s getting pretty good at using a perimeter pump fake, and defenders are biting on it because of his improved shooting, but once he beats his man, he takes one dribble, picks the ball up and has no friggin’ clue what to do. He’s either going to jump pass and pray someone is standing in the spot he rifles the ball, or he’s going to awkwardly adjust and take an off balance shot.

• Forget Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder at least need Perry Jones back. Maybe soon.

• Did Scott Brooks tell Lance Thomas to be more aggressive offensively or something? I mean, what was all that about?

• Jeremy Lamb was like the kid in class that showed up at the beginning, wrote his name on the sign-in sheet, and then slipped out the back when the teacher started talking. Like I wrote today, he played two really positive games, and now he’s tossed out a massive clunker — six points, 2-13 shooting, 0-2 from 3, eight rebounds, three assists. When Lamb misses his first two or three, it’s all downhill from there. You can almost see it in his sleepy eyes as he’s shooting — should I take this? Nah, I should swing it oh fffffffuuu I’m already in my shooting motion ffffffuuu. Consistency is his issue, which is why he’s likely always better to be more of a role guy than anything else. You don’t want to have to rely on him.

• Again, don’t get be a prisoner of the moment and forget Lamb just played two really solid games. This one was gross. Every time he shot I thought less about it going in and more about if it was going to careen off the backboard or graze the rim. But this is one game.

• Anthony Morrow: Looked solid. He scored 10 points in 14 minutes hitting 4-7 from the field and 1-1 from 3.
• Just so it’s clear: Anthony Morrow was on a minute watch tonight, which is why Brooks stuck with Lamb down the stretch instead of him. Methinks that’ll change in the near future as Morrow has that lifted.

• That said, I thought it would’ve been wise to maybe sneak Morrow on the floor with 30 seconds left to see if he could pop a 3 with the Thunder down five. Brooks must’ve felt it wasn’t worth it.

• Someone tweeted me this late in the fourth and it’s painfully true: That nine-point deficit with five minutes left felt like it would take the biggest miracle in the world to overcome. With a full strength squad, the Thunder were routinely coming back from nine with three minutes left in playoff games.

• Tony Brothers remains terrible at his job, and yet somehow also remains employed.

• There’s a decent chance if you fall down somewhere off the ball that you’ll trick an official into calling a foul. That may or may not be related to the previous bullet point.

• I feel like it would be pretty gross to defend Zaza Pachulia.

• More good stuff from Perk tonight. Seven points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes, with a couple nice blocks. When Perk checks in on Friday in OKC, I’m going to need some heavy MVP chants for him.

• (Also: Just to make sure something is completely clarified, and hopefully it doesn’t need to be: Perk was 100 percent joking when he said the MVP thing.)

• Brian Davis questioned Knight pulling the ball out instead of attacking on a 3-on-1 with 20 seconds left up five. It was, I mean, I can’t, I just can’t. Luckily, Michael Cage wasn’t afraid to disagree and point out that no, in fact, that was the right decision.

• At first it really annoyed me how fans have been riding so high after a win and falling so low after a loss. Going from, “Hey this team could be .500 by the time everyone’s back!” to “OH NO they’re going to miss the playoffs aren’t they?!?” Now, I’m just SMHing a lot. Pretty soon, I think I might laugh at it.

Next up: At the Celtics on Wednesday