Mavs stun the Thunder in Game 2, 85-84

Royce Young -

BOX SCORE

There have been a lot of Thunder games over the eight years I’ve been writing about them where I didn’t know what to say about what we all just saw. Most of the time, that’s because there was some incredible moment, some outrageous play, some unbelievable thing that resulted in a wild win.

This was the opposite. That outrageous play happened a whisker after the final buzzer, a Steven Adams’ putback that would’ve won the game. But that’s not the speechless thing. That’s the fact Kevin Durant shot 7-33. Seven. Of thirty-three.

With each one he missed, my jaw dropped even more. By the end of the game, it was like one of those Looney Toons characters. I’ve never seen Durant struggled quite like that, but it just wouldn’t drop for him. He did hit one shot — a big one — with 10 seconds left to cut the game to one. It gave the Thunder a chance and after two missed Raymond Felton frees throws, they darn near won the thing. But Durant’s layup got grazed by Justin Anderson, Westbrook’s first tip was off, and Adams was late.

But enough of that. We know the night for Durant was unusual. The question is, how did it come to this anyway? After the 38-point blowout on Saturday, and the Mavs even more short-handed, how were they in it period?

Two things they did especially well: 1) They played super duper hard and 2) they got in the Thunder’s head a little. It started with Charlie Villanueva interrupted the Westbrook/Payne pregame routine. Then it carried on when Anderson checked in, picking up Durant full court and when KD posted, ramming a knee up his backside. The Mavs got physical and chippy, and basically just willed their way through offensive possessions. And with Durant missing, it created the perfect storm.

What people are naturally going to focus on is the execution, or lack thereof, late in the game. About that: Yep, the Thunder didn’t score. But then again, if Durant is missing shots, what’s one to do? That’s obviously an indictment of the Thunder’s offense in general, but that’s also basketball. If Steph Curry isn’t hitting those rainbow 3s off the dribble with 17 on the shot clock, where are the Warriors right now? That’s what those guys get paid to do. That’s why they’re a cut above. Because they make those shots more times than not.

Was it on Billy Donovan though? The Thunder were up 78-71 with six minutes left. To the play-by-play:

  • 5:35, Westbrook 14-foot jumper missed, Kanter rebound, Kanter blocked by Mejri
  • 5:07, Durant misses wing 3
  • 4:37, Durant misses 15-foot jumper
  • 4:01, Westbrook misses wing 3
  • 3:47, Waiters misses corner 3
  • 3:20, Durant makes technical free throw
  • 3:14, Westbrook misses layup
  • 3:12, Adams makes putback
  • 2:19, Durant turnover
  • 1:50, Westbrook turnover
  • 1:15, Durant misses 15-footer
  • :40, Westbrook misses 3
  • :24, Durant misses baseline jumper
  • :19, Durant misses corner 3
  • :09, Durant makes 3
  • :00 Adams putback too late

So there it is. Go review the tape. Watch the offense. See what shots sucked and what didn’t. What I think you’ll find is that Kevin Durant had a lot of good looks and Kevin Durant did not make said looks. Like he said, at that point, it’s out of everyone’s hands but his.

Now, I saw plenty of the “why didn’t he get others involved???” stuff. Like Durant has said before, damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” If he stops shooting and starts passing, there would be plenty to say he was scared of the moment and chickened out because he was missing. He kept shooting, so now it’s that he should’ve stopped and pass to others. And here’s the thing: He did! Remember his extra pass to Waiters in the corner for an open 3? Or the flare play to Westbrook for an open 3? Durant made passes; he played his normal way. He just didn’t make anything.

It’s suddenly a series, and the Thunder have to win a game in Dallas. Nobody really expected this, and now the Thunder could rattle a bit, or they could get the wake up call. It feels like this game was simply an outlier, something that happened because of unusual circumstances. But we’ll have to just wait and see what happens next.

NOTES:

  • Who thought KD was hitting a game-winner? This guy. This guy right here.
  • Donovan on Durant: “I have all the confidence in the world in Kevin shooting the basketball and even though he was struggling, I think at one point I saw in the statsheet he was 5-for-23, I was never going to tell him not to shoot. He’s a guy that can turn it on pretty quickly and get on a roll.”
  • Westbrook on Durant: “You constantly keep feeding him. He’s the best player in the world. You have nights like that. My job is to find him and find a way to get him an easy basket. He missed easy ones tonight, but I know Kevin, I’ve been with him for too long and that won’t happen again.”
  • Durant on Durant: “Just missed ’em. Just missed ’em. Everything looked good for me. Coach drew up some good plays. Teammates set great screens. Russell delivered the ball perfect. It’s on me after that. I’ve just got to make ’em next game.”
  • That big 8-0 run in the fourth? It started with a Dion Waiters and-1. I’m just saying.
  • That note was way more fun when I thought the Thunder were going to win when I wrote it.
  • On top of the 26 missed shots, Durant also had seven turnovers.
  • Let me say this: Durant struggled shooting but not once did he dog it tonight. Every bucket a teammate scored, he was completely lit up. Compared to even three or four years ago, that’s way different. I was really impressed by that.
  • Seems to me there’s always a bit of a playoff adjustment period for Durant. He gets fewer calls, defenders get extra physical and he sort of has to recalibrate. He always has an oddly off game, or two.
  • The Thunder definitely got caught up in the Mavs’ trying to get in their heads.
  • It has to be said: Durant did not get anything from the officiating crew. Matthews didn’t pick up his first foul until 1:58 left in the game, a ticky-tack off ball call. There was definitely frustration there from OKC.
  • The Mavs made three big adjustments that I saw: 1) they played their butts off, 2) they made more shots and 3) Durant missed some shots.
  • Again, on the coaching: Because the Mavs stole one on a night Kevin Freaking Durant missed 26 shots, the assumption is RICK CARLISLE YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD. The Mavs did some things different. They used some zone. They got really physical. They stayed big more. They did good things. But the coaching stuff just exhausts me. When you’re considered a good coach by the internet, you get all the credit for a win. When you’re considered a bad, or even average coach, you not only don’t get credit for wins, but you take the direct blame for losses. Some of the shots Durant took in the fourth, I don’t know what Donovan was responsible to do differently. They were very open. His best player didn’t make them.
  • It’s funny, one of Zach Lowe’s postgame critiques of Donovan was he played Kanter too much. Kanter played 19 minutes, and subbed out at the five-minute mark of the fourth. Not saying Zach’s wrong necessarily, but on a night the Thunder couldn’t score, seems to me MORE Kanter might’ve been wise. Especially when there were so many misses to go after.
  • Durant changed shoes at halftime. That always makes for a good narrative when the player turns it around. Except he didn’t. He shot 3-19 after halftime.
  • Danny Crawford made some weeeeeeeird calls and no-calls tonight.
  • I like Anderson, a lot. I wanted the Thunder to try and grab him last season. He’s got massive toughness, and size, and athleticism. I’m a big fan.
  • So… maybe this is the end of the sleeved jerseys then, huh?

Next up: Game 3 in Dallas on Thursday