Four straight the wrong way: Nuggets beat OKC, 107-100

Royce Young -

BOX SCORE

It continues to be an incredibly odd feeling, the Thunder being down just three with 3:15 left, and knowing that they would very likely not win the game. Last season, they could’ve been 13 with three minutes left — like they were against the Clippers in Game 5 — and you felt like there was a decent chance they were still winning the thing.

But then again, the fact they were even within a possession actually caught me off guard. They trailed by 16 to start the fourth — 90-74 — and on the second night of a back-to-back, looked completely cooked. A bucket from Reggie Jackson, a 3 by Sebastian Telfair, some free throws for Jackson and an Ibaka jumper and the Thunder had it to nine with a little less than nine to go. Nice push, but it’s still over.

Free throws by Jackson, a runner from Anthony Morrow, free throws by Morrow, another 3 for Telfair (what?!), split free throws from Nick Collison, and then a nifty pump-and-dump 3 from Serge Ibaka, and there it was, the Thunder had clawed back to 101-98, 3:15 to go.

Wilson Chandler took a pretty dumb shot, and the Thunder now had the ball, down three with 3:01 to go. It’s not that the Thunder were executing great offense or anything, but they did have someone to go to as Ibaka had shaken off last night’s miserable shooting night in Salt Lake to 9 of his 14 attempts tonight. The Thunder were relying on a lot of high pick-and-roll with Ibaka and Jackson, letting the Nuggets either overhelp on Ibaka’s roll/pop which allowed Jackson to attack and kick or score. There was a little identity to the Thunder’s offense all of a sudden, with that team-first, unselfish mentality showing up again.

And then Reggie Jackson chucked a 3.

That shot didn’t lose the Thunder this game. It came with 2:45 left, plenty of time to get another stop and reset for a better possession. Except Chandler banged home a wing 3, Ibaka attempted a really awkward running hook/floater thing, and Arron Afflalo canned a wide open corner 3 to take it to nine, 1:42 left. Game really over now.

Back to that shot by Jackson. Scott Brooks noted it was a poor look after the game, but immediately noted that Jackson played a good game and was a big part of the comeback. Jackson finished with 16 on 5-20 shooting with seven rebounds and nine assists, but he was pretty influential in sparking the fourth quarter run. He rediscovered his own game a bit, attacking the rim and finishing or getting to the line. But that shot was terrible. And while it didn’t lose the game, it sure didn’t help win it.

Let’s look for a second at what the floor looked like when Jackson fired away:

It’s not that I entirely blame Jackson for taking that one. It’s a shot he’s seen his mentor, Russell Westbrook, take the last five years. It’s just that — and this sounds stupid, I realize — but it’s always felt like Westbrook’s intentions were pure when he took an ill-advised shot. It continues to feel like Jackson has ulterior motives every time. Especially since two of the last three losses he’s played a significant part in crunchtime.

The Thunder have never really been a team to do this sort of stuff, but look at that screenshot, I keep picturing what the Spurs would’ve done in that situation. Tony Parker finds the slashing Boris Diaw, Diaw takes a dribble or two drawing Mozgov, and dishes to Tim Duncan for an easy dunk. That’s the correct basketball play there. But I guess that 3 would’ve tied the game with 2:45 left, so why not, right?

Coming off the disappointing homestand losses to the Pistons and Rockets, it just seemed like despite the negative results, things were trending in the right direction. A back-to-back isn’t easy for a shorthanded roster, but two winnable games on the road, two chances to get right, to start taking steps forward. Instead, a complete dud in the second half doomed them in Utah, and tonight, it was inconsistent defense on a night where the offense actually showed up that killed the Thunder in Denver.

That’s now four straight losses for the Thunder. They haven’t lost four straight since 2009. They’re 3-10, sitting last — LAST — in the Western Conference. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are due to be re-evaluated in a week, meaning they could conceivably be back in three games. With the way things are looking right now, if — IF — they come back then, they’ll be working with a 3-13 hole to get out of. Yikes.

NOTES:

  • Already, to get to 50 wins, the Thunder would need to go 47-22 the rest of the way. That’s winning at a .681 clip. And that’s starting tomorrow.
  • Something to keep in mind, though: When Westbrook and Durant play, the Thunder have won about 72 percent of their games the last four seasons.
  • Reggie Jackson’s first seven games: 22.4 points on 44.4 percent shooting, 8.1 assists. His last three games: 13.6 points on 27.2 percent shooting, 6.6 assists. I think two things have changed: 1) He started thinking he was really good, and 2) opposing teams started seeing his was pretty good. Jackson has been the focal point for every opponent with them throwing double-teams at him constantly. And with limited help, he hasn’t been able to solve it.
  • Andre Roberson returned. He played seven minutes and shockingly, didn’t score 30 points. I think that’s what we’ve had in our heads the past week or so. With Roberson and Perry Jones out, we’ve built them up to be Westbrook and Durant-like saviors. Roberson defended decently and hit a 3. That was it.
  • Anthony Morrow since his Boston explosion: 3-18 from 3.
  • REBOUND. So many second chance opportunities for the Nuggets tonight, all absolutely devastating for the Thunder.
  • Ibaka bounced back wonderfully, hitting 9-15 for 22 points with 13 rebounds. No blocks for him, or the team, though. Which is strange considering his past success against Denver swatting shots.
  • Steven Adams did a few things offensively scoring eight points on 3-3 shooting, but he only got 17 minutes as Brooks stuck with his two-big lineup of Ibaka and Nick Collison down the stretch. Brooks opted for offense, which he needed to get out of that 16-point hole. Right choice.
  • So… Sebastian Telfair scored 18 on 7-7 shooting, including 4-4 from 3. In my face, amirite?
  • It’s the Royce Bump: I say a player stinks and bam, he plays great. So, you stink Reggie Jackson, you stink Jeremy Lamb, you stink Anthony Morrow, you stink Nick Collison, you stink Andre Roberson, you stink Kendrick Perkins, you stink Sebastian Telfair, you stink Lance Thomas (for real though), you stink Serge Ibaka and you stink Steven Adams.
  • Guess what: It was also Jackson’s lazy closeout on the other end that allowed Wilson Chandler a look at the dagger 3.
  • Jeremy Lamb was there, I guess.
  • Oh, I will say this about Lamb: There’s nothing quite like the look of complete relief on his face when one of his shots goes in. You can just see it through those sleepy eyes — thank GOD that went in.
  • It looks like Phoebe taught Lance Thomas how to run.
  • The Thunder shot 45.6 percent from the field tonight! And hit 10-23 from 3! And shot 25 free throws! And… lost.

Next up: Home against the Nets on Friday