Week in Review: Burned

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Coming off a frustrating loss to the Atlanta Hawks, with two days to mull things over, the Thunder traveled to Miami with a chance to right the ship. After 47 minutes and 29 seconds of basketball, the Thunder and Heat were even, each with 97 points. But instead of a gritty road win over a good team, the Thunder get out-executed over the final three possessions in en route to a 2-point loss.

It’s one thing to watch it in real time, but if you break down the film, you’ll see a marked difference between the Heat and Thunder in the final, make-or-break possessions.

Thunder ball, 29.3 seconds to go: Kevin Durant catches the inbounds pass and is defended by rookie Justise Winslow. Durant then milks the clock down, before faking a drive then pulling back to take a three with 11.7 seconds left. The shot rims out, but you can live with that shot. Driving to the basket was probably going to be tough, with Dwayne Wade coming off of Dion Waiters to stop penetration, and in any event, Durant creates plenty of space to gather an open look. Miami recovers the rebounds and calls timeout.

Heat ball, 7.7 seconds to go: Here is where it all goes wrong for the Thunder. First, out of the timeout, Billy Donovan subs in Andre Roberson. Which, with Roberson being the Thunder’s best perimeter defender and all, seems like a good idea. The problem, though, was having Roberson defend Gerald Green instead of Wade, who was guarded by Waiters. Yes, you read that right, Roberson, the elite defender, was designated to guard a guy who took all of 2 shots in the last 8+ minutes of the game, while Waiters, the okay sometimes defender, defended the Heat’s leading scorer.

Miami coach Eric Spoelstra draws up a nifty little play to confuse the Thunder and create space for Wade to operate.

In the Thunder’s last possession, the only designed play by Billy Donovan was the inbound set, which worked to get Durant the ball up high. After that, it was simply a Durant isolation play. Contrasted with the Heat, after Wade catches the inbounds, Spoelstra has Winslow run an outside-in curl off a Chris Bosh screen. This action alone creates significant confusion on the part of the Thunder. Serge Ibaka, defending Bosh, decides to switch and take Durant’s man, Winslow. Durant, though, doesn’t switch, which leaves Bosh unguarded. Dodging a bullet, Bosh still dutifully goes out to set a high screen for Wade, with Durant scrambling to recover.

So good news, since Bosh runs out to set a screen for Wade, even though Durant was lost, Durant has time to recover and put himself in great possession to stop Wade’s penetration. Waiters, despite being beat off the screen, funnels Wade toward Durant, who’s ready to challenge Wade. Waiters is also on Wade’s right hip, and since Bosh popped out high rather than rolled to the basket, Waiters is in the passing lane. Roberson is shading Bosh, ready to help if Wade were able to get a pass out to Bosh. So at this point, it’s looking like the Thunder will be able to force the Heat into a tough shot.

Then Durant makes a major mistake. With Waiters on Wade’s hip, rather than in front, Durant has to stay in help position. But he doesn’t. Seeing Bosh open, Durant jumps out to the top of the key to guard Bosh, giving Wade a direct path to the basket. And, as you are probably aware, Wade gets deep into the paint, draws a foul, and makes both free throws to give the Heat the lead.

Thunder ball, 1.5 seconds to go: With time on the clock, a timeout to advance the ball, and this guy named Kevin Durant out there, the Thunder stood a chance to tie or win at the buzzer. But the Thunder inbounds play was a veritable face palm.

At first glance, it looks like the Thunder are going to try to run Durant off an Ibaka screen and have Durant flash towards the corner (notice the spacing, with the nearside corner left open).

I don’t know if Durant went before Ibaka got set, if Ibaka was out of position, or if Durant wasn’t supposed to get a screen at all, but for whatever reason, Durant goes toward the basket and just sort of looks around, lost. Ibaka then tries (and fails) to set a screen to open up Russell Westbrook, who is forced to come all the way to Waiters, who’s inbounding the ball. This inbounds pass leaves Westbrook no choice but to take a well-contested desperation heave that is no where close to going in.

While an NBA game is far more than three possessions, it’s hard not to look at the final three plays and want to poke yourself in the eye. Tie game, with the ball and a chance to win, one team executes an isolation play, while the other executes a play with two screens leading to a shot at the rim. And wouldn’t you know, the team with the more elegant set won the game.

THE GAMES

• Loss at the Miami Heat, 100-106, on December 3
• Win vs. the Sacramento Kings, 98-95 on December 6

THE BEST PLAYER

Russel Westbrook. A 25-point night against the Heat and an efficient 19-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple double against the Kings made Westbrook the clear best player this week. Westbrook’s case was bolstered by Durant’s struggles. In two games this week, Durant shot just 47% from the field and 23% from three. Durant also tallied 15 total turnovers in just two games, including a 10-turnover nightmare against the Kings.

THE WORST PLAYER

DJ Augustin. Augustin played 24 minutes this week, missed every shot he took, turned the ball over 2 times, and had just 1 assist. And that concludes Augustin’s stats for the week.

THE BEST PERFORMANCE

Russell Westbrook against the Sacramento Kings. Any time you can shoot 54% from the field, secure 11 rebounds, dish 10 assists, garner 3 steals, and turn the ball over just 3 times, you probably deserve the best performance award. With his third triple double of the season, Westbrook is tied with Draymond Green for second in the league behind Rajon Rondo, who has four.

THE WORST PERFORMANCE

Dion Waiters against the Sacramento Kings. As good as Westbrook was against the Kings, Waiters was kind of the opposite of that. Waiters took 12 shots and managed to convert only 2. In an odd twist, Waiters’s only makes were above-the-break threes, while four of his misses were on mid-range stepbacks, and four others were at the rim. Waiters coupled his poor shot selection with just 2 assists and 1 rebound. Not a good night. Though he did make all four of his free throws, so that’s something.

THE BEST PLAY

Durant puts Kosta Koufos on a poster. While Durant mostly had an off night against the Kings, Durant did manage to hit the game winner. He also completed this epic throw-down over Koufos.

Honorable mention: Cam Payne made his debut with the Oklahoma City Blue, and had a similarly amazing rim-rocker.

THE WORST PLAY

Kyle Singler travels, again. Kyle, if you want to pivot, you have to plant that pivot foot.

WEEK IN PREVIEW

• At the Memphis Grizzlies on December 8 (FSOK). The Grizzlies and Thunder have had similar seasons so far. Both teams had high expectations, but both teams have struggled, especially with good teams.

• Vs. the Atlanta Hawks on December 10 (FSOK). The Hawks edged the Thunder 106-100 back on November 30, but have been playing no better than .500 ball the last couple of weeks.

• At the Utah Jazz on December 11 (FSOK). In one of the more impressive wins of the season, the Thunder thoroughly handled the Jazz in Utah earlier this season, 111-89. Can they do it again?

• Vs. the Utah Jazz on December 13 (FSOK). In a scheduling quirk, the Thunder play a road-home set against the Jazz.