“We can be as bad as anyone in this league. ANYONE.”
This was the statement made by the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the top seed in the Western Conference on the line, against an opponent who had defeated them twice in agonizing fashion.
They needed only two quarters to deliver this message, scoring a brutal 25 points in 24 minutes in the second half. The 11-point fourth quarter looks the worst on paper, but the 14-point third quarter – in which a) no Thunder player other than Kendrick Perkins or Serge Ibaka hit any shot, and b) no Thunder player made any basket from beyond two feet – was the real canary in this particular mineshaft.
Since the Thunder somehow emerged from that mess tied with their hosts, it would be easy to point fingers at the final period as their undoing. That kind of thinking, though, fails to credit the full offensive meltdown that transpired after halftime. Here were the major culprits.
Kevin Durant: The stat line looks reasonable, before the 0-7 three-point shooting jumps off the page. If there has been a common statistical thread in Oklahoma City’s losses this season, it is Durant’s wayward long-distance marksmanship. A few lowlights:
- 1/3/12 vs. POR – 1-7 3PT, OKC L 93-103
- 1/18/12 vs. WAS – 2-10 3PT, OKC L 102-105
- 2/15/12 vs. HOU – 2-7 3PT, OKC L 95-96
- 3/3/12 vs. ATL – 3-10 3PT, OKC L 90-97
- 3/9/12 vs. CLE – 1-7 3PT, OKC L 90-96
- 3/16/12 vs. SAS – 2-8 3PT, OKC L 105-114
- 4/2-4/6/12 vs. MEM, MIA, IND – 7-23 3PT, all OKC Ls
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Written by Steven Jones
Portland native, Highland Park resident, middle school teacher/basketball coach.
