The Leftovers: The Thunder almost beat the Warriors

1. Kevin Durant scored 40. Russell Westbrook had 27 and 12 assists. Enes Kanter had 14 and 15 in 20 minutes. Stephen Curry hit just 10 of his 25 shots, including 1-of-8 from 3. Klay Thompson hit 1-of-6 from 3. The Warriors as a team hit 7-of-26 from 3.

And the Thunder lost by eight points.

Like I write last night for ESPN.com, you have to walk away from last night’s game encouraged with the way the Thunder matched up with the Warriors, but still, if you want to drink down some half empty stuff, it’s there for the taking. The Thunder got roasted for 73 points in the first half as their bench got cooked 23-4. The Warriors scored 73 with Curry shooting just 4-10 for 14 points. Defensively it turned over in the second half with OKC allowing 43 as they pressured the Warriors far better, limited breakdowns and stopped having to watch Mo Speights hit fadeaway 3s. Durant said there wasn’t any specific halftime adjustment defensively, that it was more just the same effort with the payoff of the Warriors missing. Fair enough.

Because at a certain point against them, that’s what you’re left to deal with. The Warriors are going to get their shots, and nine of out 10 possessions, it’s going to be a good one. It’s more about who’s taking those shots, and whether or not they’re making them. The Thunder clearly had a plan for Curry and Thompson, and they executed it really well. Sure, Curry missed some. But I thought the Thunder did an exceptional job of using length to contest and make him rush. Next time, he might make all of them anyway and drop 44, because he’s Steph emeffing Curry and he does that kind of thing.

But in terms of a contender, the Thunder looked the part. They trailed by 20 because of mostly a bench implosion, but what was most impressive about the way they came back was the manner of execution and poise. They had a real, legit shot at winning this game. Westbrook had a layup slip off the rim down one with 3:25 to go. Durant had a decent go-ahead 3 with three minutes left clang off the rim. He had another one that would’ve tied it with two minutes rattle in and out. Those are the bounces that seem to just always go the Warriors’ way, but the Thunder can play with them.

2. So, Enes Kanter isn’t unplayable against the Warriors. Matter of fact, he’s very playable. And potentially an X-factor. This is what the Thunder thought all along. When he got isolated in a pick-and-roll situation, he took his burning and the Warriors scored. But Billy Donovan made a clever move to have him guard non-screeners like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, with the understanding that he might be mismatched and allow something open to one of them. That, the Thunder were willing to live with.

But Kanter showed what he could do as a destroyer of smallball, beasting the Warriors on the offensive glass and giving Westbrook a lethal pick-and-roll option. It was only 20 minutes, which honestly felt just right to me, but Kanter produced 14 points and 15 rebounds and was a critical part of getting the thing tied up in the fourth.

Jonathan Tjarks wrote that the Thunder might have to play Durant at the 4 for 40 minutes against the Warriors, but I’m not totally sure about that. Serge Ibaka had trouble in this one, and I’m certainly anxious to see how he does the next time around, because I think he’s an important part in defending the Warriors. But it does make sense to potentially play Durant at power forward alongside Adams or Kanter for a large bulk of the game, and maybe just, well, sit Ibaka. Offensive rebounding is especially important against the Warriors because it helps control pace, and because they’re not a great rebounding team.

But then again, a lot of the Thunder’s success last night was in staying big against Golden State’s small. Donovan said he felt like having more length and size made the Thunder tougher to score on, and it certainly played out that way. While Ibaka didn’t have a big game statistically, he was also being asked to do a TON, like guiding Harrison Barnes to start, like guarding big against Andrew Bogut at times, like switching onto guards.

I was fascinated by the early crossmatching with Donovan starting Durant on Draymond Green and Ibaka on Barnes. It was especially clever because it meant the Thunder could switch the Warriors pet 1-4 pick-and-rolls with Curry and Green without any issue, making the Warriors readjust and run a lot less of it than they usually do. That’s a big win for OKC.

The problem with it was, Barnes made his shots, hitting 8-14 from 19 points. He pulled Ibaka away from the paint and turned him into a perimeter defender, which isn’t a strength, obviously.

I think the Thunder have to have Ibaka to beat the Warriors. He’s still a big offensive threat and too unique defensively not to matter. But it’s certainly something interesting to watch on Feb. 27.

3. There was more than the usual amount of hand-wringing over some lineup choices, especially in the first half. But here’s the thing: This is the first time the Thunder have played the Warriors, and it’s February. This is the opportunity to see how your bench holds up against theirs, to see if you can live with any non-Westbrook/Durant minutes, to see how Cameron Payne plays, to see if Kyle Singler can guard their perimeter guys, to just see how it all looks. This was maybe the first round of a 13-round prize fight. You don’t want to come out swinging with every combination and trick.

I get why there was angst over Durant and Westbrook not staggered, but if you spend all week with the lip service this is just a regular season game in February, you can’t walk in and change everything about your rotations and make adjustments only unique to this game. Then you’re just caving to the pressure and idea that this one is somehow more important than any other.

Now, Donovan did adjust in the second half playing Durant 15 straight minutes which included the first three of the fourth quarter which certainly was a new wrinkle. He subbed him out at 9:15, while bringing Westbrook back in, for true staggering of the two. And it definitely was effective in keeping things moving. But that also might’ve been more of a product of the situation, rather than gameplan. The Thunder were back in the game down seven headed to the fourth, with the game teetering on those opening couple of minutes. Sit Durant and you risk being down 14 when you bring him and Westbrook back. It was more a product of necessity — something Donovan has down before in other close games — rather than pre-planned.

4. The Thunder are in a tight spot with their starting five. One of the most fascinating parts of this matchup going forward is the starting five for the Thunder. What does Donovan do in a playoff series with Andre Roberson? I thought Dion Waiters did an admirable job defensively, but Klay Thompson can get what he wants against him because of his size advantage. So you have Roberson who is obviously a better match for Thompson. But then again, starting Waiters put the Warriors in a tight spot with Curry, because it forced him to guard Westbrook, something that certainly favors OKC.

So who do you start in Game 1 against the Warriors?

You can gripe all you want about Waiters, but to me, I think he could be a critical part in beating a team like the Warriors. There were four or five possessions where Waiters switched onto Draymond Green, and absolutely held his own on the block, standing Green up and forcing either a tough shot or a kickout. That’s huge. Then there’s the offensive part, and while he didn’t do much last night, the Warriors know he at least has to be guarded, and it opens a lot more up for Durant and Westbrook.

Speaking of the starting five, back to the Ibaka question: Do you consider starting Singler over him if you’re going to crossmatch on Green so you can guard Barnes on the perimeter? I’m sure everyone would handle that well.

5. Did last night’s game show the Thunder need to make a trade? That’s a tough question, because they damn near beat the Warriors in Oracle. And the reasonable takeaway from that game is that the Thunder are definitely good enough to at least push them, potentially to six or seven games.

But can they beat them with what they have? It’s clear that a better 2-guard option, a combination of Waiters and Roberson, is what they really need. That player isn’t exactly out there readily available with someone just giving him away for free, so the Thunder can’t just push a button to grab him. My feeling is you can’t react too much to it, because we need to see Roberson in the matchup and what kind of influence he might have on Thompson, or even bigger, on a player like Livingston, who was massive in the second half.

6. Cameron Payne is going to have to learn from this. The Warriors’ second unit torched OKC’s in the second quarter in large part because Payne looked more like a rookie than he has yet. He was completely overwhelmed by the speed and intensity of that game. But that’s what you need. He has to learn at some point, and while the playoffs might be a repeat procedure, those 10-15 minutes he’s going to play are going to be vital.

7. The Warriors still can’t guard Kevin Durant. They never have been able to, and never will be able to. Unless they sign him, which is their best defense to stopping him.

8. It’s funny how games go, because Steven Adams played 33 minutes to Kanter’s 20, but if you asked me who played more, I would’ve totally guessed it was the inverse. That’s how it felt.

9. Oracle is awesome. One moment stood out to me: When Westbrook had that and-1 in the second half where he stared down the crowd, they immediately reacted, booing and yelling at him. Westbrook loved it of course. Most arenas react modestly to those Westbrook sneers, but Warriors fans are just completely engaged in the game. Durant said it last night that it reminds him of OKC — OH NO HE’S GOING TO THE WARRIORS NOW BECAUSE HE SAID A SENTENCE — and it’s definitely right there in terms of fan involvement. It’s my favorite place to watch the Thunder on the road.

10. I think the Thunder win on Feb. 27. They went into Oracle last night confident, but definitely curious. They knew what the Warriors had done to other contenders, and it’s impossible not to fear the avalanche. But not only did the Thunder absorb it, they were tied with three minutes to go and were a made 3, a defensive rebound, another stop away from taking it.