The Leftovers: Almost, again

1. The blame goes all the way around on the end of regulation. I understand the desire to assign it DIRECTLY AT SOMEONE, but it should be spread pretty equally. Most fingers I’ve seen are being pointed at Billy Donovan, and while certainly, he could’ve called timeout, so could’ve Kevin Durant. Durant was the one trapped. He was anticipating a foul, but instead of just protecting the ball, he tried to throw a long pass to break it. Like he said after the game, he was the one that turned it over. And he was the one that fouled Iguodala.

If you’re Donovan, you’re probably thinking, Why would I call timeout? I’ve already got the ball in Durant’s hands, which is all I could want. If I call timeout, we’ve got to inbound to him all over again. At that point, it’s just on Durant to make the right choice. Which he clearly didn’t.

You could also point at Dion Waiters and Andre Roberson, who ran down the court, instead of coming back to help. Not that it would’ve been great for either one of them to end up with the ball needing to make free throws, but they didn’t give Durant much to work with either.

I will say, though, I didn’t like Donovan’s answer at all in explaining it. He seemed really uncomfortable to either say that it was just all his fault (“I maybe could’ve helped Kevin out a little”) and was obviously unwilling to say what he seemed to really think (“What the hell was Kevin doing? I didn’t think he was going to just throw it away.”). Donovan went about halfway, and clearly didn’t want to throw his star under the bus. But he didn’t want to fall on the sword for him either. I found that odd.

2. The Thunder dominated the game. They outplayed the Warriors in basically every way. They led by double-digits a number of times, and held an 11-point lead with under five minutes to go. This was their game.

And that’s despite turning it over 22 times and missing nine free throws.

They outrebounded the Warriors 62-32, they shot 48 percent, they gave up only two 3-pointers (non-Steph division). Their defense was excellent, the offense clicked well enough and the sub patterns Donovan used were smart and effective.

But they just couldn’t combat the wizardry of Steph Curry hitting contested 3s from 28 feet and beyond. Because how can you? Curry hit 12-16 from 3; the rest of the Warriors went 2-16. Basically everything the Thunder did was what you needed to do.

Except win the game.

3. That was maybe the best defensive game I’ve ever seen from Russell Westbrook. I don’t care what Curry’s numbers look like. A lot of those were on switches anyway. But Westbrook was entirely engaged and a complete menace on the defensive end. He rarely gambled, instead maintaining focus throughout the duration of the possession.

And not coincidentally, it was one of the Thunder’s best defensive performances this season. They didn’t give up 121 points because of bad defense. They gave up 121 points because Curry is a warlock that is playing with a Game Genie.

4. The way the Warriors won reminded me of how the Thunder have so often won in the past. Just straight magic from incredible players. Lucky breaks going their way, and an ability to hit the shot you need when you need it.

But now it’s the Warriors that manufacture those moments better than anyone else.

5. On a personal note, that’s the single best basketball game I’ve seen in person. I was at Game 6 Spurs-Heat, and while the magnitude of that one makes it “better,” just in terms of the game itself, this was the best. That shot by Curry is going to be one of the most famous ever, and it happened about 15 feet in front of me. I can still hear the sound the arena made when that thing left his hand.

6. Yep, the Thunder can clearly give the Warriors a push. There were plenty of qualifiers tossed around following the first game — Curry didn’t shoot well, they missed open shots, they didn’t play that well — but Saturday’s game validated the Thunder’s threat. And confirmed that the length and athleticism OKC has can give the Warriors problems. It’s not coincidental that the Warriors had problems against the Thunder.

That said, they’re still 0-2 against them.

7. I really felt for KD after this one. Not just because of the turnover and foul, but because he was the one that hit the shot. He was the star. He was going to have the highlight. And then it got taken right out from under him.

8. Biggest moments, ranked: 1) Durant’s turnover and foul; 2) Durant’s sixth foul; 3) Draymond Green’s offensive rebound and ensuing 3 by Klay Thompson with 1:30 left in overtime; 4) Thompson’s quick layup with 10 seconds left in regulation; 5) Curry’s game-winner.

The winning shot was obviously amazing, but it was in a tie game and let’s face it, the Warriors were winning in a second overtime. The Thunder were gassed, they didn’t have Durant and they were basically out of options. That offensive rebound (only one of four total) and 3 by Thompson were huge. OKC had a four-point lead and got a stop, and couldn’t run the clock down to a minute and maybe scored to go up six or seven. Instead, it was back to one.

9. Why were Singler and Roberson on the floor in overtime? A popular, valid question. At the same time, if you need reminding, Kevin Durant had fouled out. The Warriors were sticking with Green at center. So Donovan had two options: 1) match up small and go with your best perimeter defenders to try and corral the Warriors and hang on to your lead or 2) go big and hope you can beat them up with size. Also, Roberson’s defense was borderline spectacular and you want him on the floor as much as you can get by with on Klay Thompson.

Now, the other wrinkle: Why have Singler and Roberson in on the Thunder’s second to last possession where Westbrook missed his banker? Let’s go through the other options: Anthony Morrow, who hadn’t played a second yet. Cameron Payne, who hadn’t played a second yet. Go back to big with Adams or Kanter, which could’ve made sense and run pick-and-roll. That’s probably the move I would’ve gone for, and just accept that if the Warriors rebound and don’t call timeout, you’re going to be mismatched.

Having Westbrook, Waiters, Roberson, Singler and Ibaka on the floor, the Warriors were really only concerned with two players, maybe three. They knew it was on Westbrook and while his shot wasn’t terrible, it also wasn’t ideal.

10. Can I just note how good of an overtime Westbrook had, though? He had every right to go nuts and shoot every trip and just try and do his Russ being Russ thing. Instead, he really ran the offense, finding cutters and open men, setting the table beautifully. It was a great example of his maturity and development.

11. The Thunder have lost four of their last five. And three straight at home. So last night’s game stung for a lot of reasons, but maybe mostly because the Thunder are in a bit of a tailspin. And while they proved their ability last night, they were also very clearly way up for it. The problem with them is clear: They don’t produce that kind of effort, energy and focus on a nightly basis. It’s why they’ve lost 18 times and the Warriors have lost five. If the Thunder played with that kind of intensity every night, they’d probably be somewhere in the 49-10 range right now.

But they don’t. Hence 41-18. And now you look ahead at the schedule, and if they aren’t able to quickly move on from Saturday, they could be looking at a four-game losing streak and seven of their last eight. Which would be the worst stretch with Durant healthy in seven years.

The Thunder have 23 games left and while I think it’s very possible they go something like 17-6, it’s also possible it could be 13-10. I’m PRETTY SURE they’re going to land in the three-seed no matter what they do, and if so, obsessing over record might be a little pointless. They should get through the opening round without too much trouble (though a 3-6 against the Blazers scares me) and they match up well with the Spurs. And they’ve shown what they can potentially do against the Warriors. That doesn’t make the losses any easier to stomach, but as long as they reproduce something similar to Saturday’s effort consistently throughout these final 23, they’ll be fine.