Thunder stumble to the Pistons in overtime, 96-89
Reggie Jackson wanted to shoulder the responsibility, because I assume that’s what he read it says to do in the Alpha Dog Handbook.
“I failed my teammates,” Jackson said, somehow low-talking even more than he normally does. “They played great. We were never supposed to go to overtime. I let them down tonight. If anyone rests uneasy, it’s my fault.”
Jackson was talking about the look he at at the end of regulation, a clean opportunity at the buzzer to put the Pistons away and seal a big win for the Thunder. He shook Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on an iso at the free throw line, but seemed to stumble just slightly. He was open, but didn’t have enough time to reset, so he faded and let it fly high, hoping for one of those traditionally favorable Chesapeake bounces. It circled the iron and fell out, and the Thunder were off to an overtime they never gave themselves a chance in.
“Loved it, loved the look I got,” Jackson said. “I was wide open. Just didn’t go in.”
Had it, the Thunder would’ve walked away with a nice little win, overcoming a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to survive in a somewhat classic Thunder way. Just enough stops, just enough shots. But instead of it being heroics from Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant sparing the Thunder, it was spread all over with big plays from Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, Anthony Morrow and Serge Ibaka. The Thunder could’ve looked at this one as building on an impressive performance in Boston, stepping one closer to .500 and feeling as if they were on a brighter path to prosperity.
Instead, they’re 3-7 with the Rockets coming to town on Sunday. Jackson’s shot was big, for a lot of reasons. But like he said, it just didn’t go in.
Jackson wasn’t finished there. He couldn’t let himself off without noting the 29 Brandon Jennings put on him, with 25 of them coming in the second half.
“Anybody who watched the game, Brandon Jennings definitely destroyed Reggie Jackson,” Jackson said. “I lost the matchup and that’s why we lost tonight.”
That’s certainly an oversimplification of things, considered the Thunder lost for a whole lot of reasons. Jackson’s defense in the second half was a bit lacking at times, but Jennings made some absurdly difficult shots. And the fact the Thunder attempted only six free throws — making only one –probably had a bigger influence. Or the fact they shot 36 3-pointers. Or the fact they were outrebounded 55-42. Or the fact the bench only added 13 points. Or the fact Josh Smith stumbled into making more of his 20-footers than you could ever expect.
The Thunder played a decent game. They got a career-high 24 from Lamb (plus 10 rebounds). They got 19 and 10 from Ibaka. Jackson had some issues at times both defensively and in shrugging off the ever pesky Jennings, but still had 20 and 12 assists. One shot drops and this is all a whole different story. I guess that’s what Jackson is thinking about while he blames himself. But if he takes a second to walk over to Kevin Durant and chat him up, he’ll learn a whole lot about what it’s like to miss in crunchtime and move on.
The thing is, the more games the Thunder play, the bigger they’re beginning to feel. The game against Boston was something to feel great about, to be proud of, to be encouraged by. This game is certainly a step back. There’s nothing all that moralistic to take out of these any more, because as the losses compile, the harder the Thunder’s mission becomes. Sure, they played real, real hard and had a great opportunity. You can shrug these kinds of games off when you’re 7-2. But when each win is worth its weight, the opportunity lost just seems bigger.
The Thunder are doing something some didn’t see all that likely a few weeks ago, and that’s at least giving themselves a chance nightly. They aren’t getting worked over. They aren’t getting run out of the arena. They have chances, which is something that matters. But this is twice at home in the last seven days they’ve failed to cash in on one at the buzzer. Make two shots and they’re 5-5. But like Jackson said, they just didn’t go in.
NOTES:
- Since 1985, only four teams have taken and made fewer free throws than the Thunder did tonight. They set a new OKC era low against the Grizzlies when they went 3-11. Now it’s 1-6. That’s remarkable.
- Jackson on the free throws: “Great defense on their part. They did a great job of not fouling us, contesting, being vertical. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the line. We’ve got to do a better job, especially myself. When I attack I have to find a way to draw fouls.”
- 36 3-point attempts to six free throw attempts. That’s an outrageous ratio.
- Again: Jackson’s look was really good at the end of regulation. Pound that narrative if you want about Scott Brooks in late-game scenarios, but that’s exactly the kind of game-winning look you want. At the buzzer, and a good chance to go in.
- For whatever reason, Lamb is just a different player when his first shot goes in. He hit his first three tonight, and then picked up two steals. He was confident and assertive.
- Jackson definitely torched Jennings in the first half, but things turned as the game went on. Jennings made a few and started preening and chirping, and I think Jackson was fighting the urge to get trapped in a one-on-one battle with him. Jennings started trying to get into Jackson’s handle a lot more, making it tough to initiate the offense. And on a few, Jennings just hit ridiculously difficult shots.
- On that, Jackson: “You can tip your cap, or you can get a stop. I’ve got to get a stop, make him do something different.”
- Here’s me reading into Jackson’s postgame comments way too much, but I almost feel like his extreme attempt to take all the responsibility for the loss was kind of selfish in a backwards way. Like he was putting it all on himself, and going almost overboard to do it. This concludes me reading into a situation way too much.
- It’s amazing: Serge Ibaka has expanded his game to the 3-point line, giving the Thunder an incredible potential weapon that could unlock a lot of doors in the offense, and yet, already there are piles of gripes that he’s shooting too many of them. Ibaka isn’t a back-to-the-basket player. He probably should be, but if you watch him, he’s uncomfortable doing anything but facing up. You can’t just demand the guy develop a postgame when his strength is clearly shooting. Nine 3s? Too many, but a few were in desperation at the end of the game and for the most part, they were really good looks.
- Lamb on turning things around: “I think it was just encouragement, knowing I still have my team behind me. They believed in me. It would have felt a lot better if we would have ran away with that win. It would have been a big win for us, but we just have to get better.”
- Steven Adams was solid — 11 points, eight rebounds and five blocks — but he has to finish a little stronger inside. Multiple times he was found deep in the paint and instead of powering through contact, he elected to try and float a shot at the rim.
- After torching the Celtics, Anthony Morrow hit just 4-15 from the floor and 2-9 from 3. Some were definitely forced, though. He hit a big one late to put the Thunder up 80-79 with two minutes left.
- Jackson may want to invest in a headband. He spends a solid 40 percent of the game wiping his face off with the neck of his jersey.
- Early in the game, Jackson was playing this weird little mindgame with Jennings where when he’d call a timeout, Jackson wouldn’t let him shoot. Like he kept guarding him as Jennings tried to either throw up a shot or give the ball to the ref. It seemed really cool when Jackson was roasting him, and not so cool in overtime.
- I can’t get over it: Zach Zarba is just a very good looking man.
- Litttttttle bit awkward that Grant Long was on the call for the Pistons tonight.
- Super tense moments pregame as the guy doing the prayer either forgot what he was going to say, or just got a massive case of stage fright. He said a total of about 15 words, but it took what felt like four hours. It was just a wee bit uncomfortable.
Next up: Home against the Rockets on Sunday
