 |
| P Photo/Darren Abate |
The first quarter was an exciting quarter indeed. The crowd was in it and loud as ever the entire quarter, but Oklahoma City was not phased by the roar and cheering of the crowd, and played with maximum energy and effort. The Thunder absolutely dominated the glass, out rebounding the Spurs 15-4 in the first quarter. Oklahoma City had more offensive rebounds (5) than the Spurs had total (4).
Everyone contributed nicely in the first quarter as the ball movement was excellent. Five Thunder players scored at least five points in the quarter, as the Thunder totaled nine assists. Serge Ibaka was the catalyst on both ends of the floor, scoring eight points on 3-5 shooting while beating on the boards - grabbing eight rebounds.
 |
| AP Photo/Darren Abate |
A complete turn around occurred in the second quarter. Oklahoma City turned the ball over three times for five points, and suffered on the glass - out rebounded 10-6 by the Spurs. The Thunder's defense was sub par at best, giving up thirty five points in the quarter, and allowing the Spurs to hit 4 of their five shots from downtown, cutting the Thunder's lead down quickly - allowing San Antonio to take a thirteen point lead away from Oklahoma City and to advance an eleven point advantage of their own.
Oklahoma City had a mini 4-0 spurt at the end of the first half, cutting the Spurs' lead to just seven. Russell Westbrook struggled from the field, making just one of his four shots in the quarter. The aggressiveness seemed to disappear after the first quarter. Not attacking the rim enough and settling for contested jumpers led to the Thunder's eighteen point quarter.
The defense improved in the second quarter, though they still gave up twenty six points. The problem was the turn overs. Oklahoma City turned the ball over eight times in the quarter, allowing the Spurs to score
seven points off of them. The one thing the Thunder did right was their shot selection, though. They were able to shoot an impressive 62% in the quarter, even bringing themselves within one point - but again, the turn overs devastated any chance they had over taking the lead.
 |
| AP Photo/Darren Abate |
The Honey-Badger absolutely went off in the third quarter offensively - scoring thirteen of the Thunder's twenty four points in the quarter. He shot an excellent 6-8 from the field, while coming away with two steals. Again it came down to defense, which the Thunder didn't have. The Spurs pounded the ball inside continuously - scoring twelve points in the paint.
Things really started to fall apart for Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter. They shot an awful 20% from the field (0-6 3-pt), and were never able to get a shot to drop. The Thunder managed to get to the free throw line, and that was perhaps their only advantage at all in the quarter. Going 11-12 from the line as a team, Oklahoma City managed to score while holding the clock, but getting no stops defensively resulted in the Spurs maintaining their lead.
Thunder Essentials:
BBB(Big Bad Bench) - C
The Thunder's bench looked great at the start, but was virtually ineffective after the first quarter. They totaled sixteen points in the contest, but were considerably out played by the Spurs' bench, who totaled thirty four points themselves.
Rebounding - A
Oklahoma City had a pretty good night on the glass tonight. Serge Ibaka certainly did, totaling sixteen rebounds in the contest. The Thunder managed to out rebound the Spurs 43-35, but tied the second chance point column with the Spurs at seven a piece.
Blue Light Special - C
The Thunder shot a decent 35% from down town, which could have been much better - as they missed a few wide open threes, and the threes never really came when it mattered.
No comments:
Post a Comment