The Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to be feared this season. Reigning MVP Russell Westbrook guaranteed them a playoff-level floor; the additions of Paul George and (what's left of) Carmelo Anthony were supposed to raise their ceiling to contender status.
They weren't the Golden State Warriors but many believed they had the firepower to at least make things interesting.
An up-and-down regular season made them one of the last teams to clinch a playoff berth. Their mystical playoff gear is either stuck or nonexistent, as they now find themselves down 3-1 to an upstart Utah Jazz team that isn't supposed to be as good as they are.
What's gone wrong?
There's plenty of blame to go around. Westbrook (21-12-8, 37/21/86 shooting split) has been more frustrating than good. In addition to his poor shooting, he is being consumed by his all-out quest to erase offensive aficionado … [checks notes] Ricky Rubio? Yeesh.
George (27 and 6, 45/43/92 shooting split) has mostly lived up to his “Playoff P” moniker (corny as it is), but he's been out-dueled by Joe Ingles in crucial moments. Anthony (14.3 points with a 37/23/78 shooting split) has given the Thunder next to nothing on either end of the floor.
The biggest issue has been the Thunder's inability to contain Utah's attack. The Thunder have a defensive rating of 108.7 in this series, four points worse than their regular season mark. Their aggressive defense, particularly in pick-and-roll situations, have left them susceptible to open looks.
How the Thunder got shredded
The second quarter of Game 4 was a glaring example of how lackadaisical the Thunder have been on the less glamorous end of the floor. Utah took advantage of virtually every opening given to them, and torched them to the tune of a 130.4 offensive rating.
Within the opening minute of the second quarter, the Jazz were able to get an open three.
George completely ignores Jerebko in the corner to eyeball the action. He tells Alex Abrines to pick up Jae Crowder, but Patrick Patterson is clearly out of the loop as he tries to recover. From there, George should rotate down to his man (Jonas Jerebko) in the corner. Abrines would get the Ingles assignment, and Patterson would be tasked with guarding Crowder. To his credit, Abrines makes the correct call, but Patterson misses it. The “No, YOU got it” sequence eventually leads to the triple.
Later in the quarter, Utah generates this beauty:
There's a lot going on here.
The Jazz go to a double-drag look with Donovan Mitchell. Corey Brewer does a decent job of tracking him, but Steven Adams steps up to force the ball out of Mitchell's hands. Rudy Gobert rolls hard to the basket, so that forces Carmelo Anthony to drop down to “tag” Gobert on the roll. Mitchell makes the correct read and finds Crowder, and Crowder uses Anthony's momentum against him on the drive. The Thunder sink into the paint to cut off the drive, but that leaves Royce O'Neale wide open in the corner.
There's really no reason for Adams to step up on Mitchell — Brewer was in decent position. If the Thunder were that concerned about Mitchell taking a pull-up three, it would've made more sense for Westbrook to rotate to the “nail” instead of having Adams in the same spot. Adams being in position to contain the roll would've allowed Anthony to stay home. Instead of Crowder catching the ball in an advantageous position, Ricky Rubio would've been open one pass away. Rubio has shot well in the series, but that's a bet you should be willing to take as a defense.
Obviously it didn't happen that way, so it begs another question: why didn't Westbrook move at all? Once he saw George rotate over, he should've dropped down to the corner. In addition to that being the natural rotation, O'Neale was a 41.1 percent shooter from the corners this season. Let's just say Rubio didn't shoot that well from above-the-break. Westbrook has to be smarter (and more selfless) than that.
This is one of the most egregious looks Utah generates in the quarter:
Utah goes to their HORNS Flare alignment, a common base set that's run across the lead. Nothing fancy happens here. Westbrook gets flat-out dusted off the dribble, which is funny in and of itself. The problem is compounded by George's decision to help off of Joe freakin' Ingles in the corner. You typically don't want to help from the corner; you especially want to avoid doing that when you're guarding one of the deadliest corner shooters on the planet.
What's even more frustrating about this clip is the fact that Anthony starts to rotate down, then he just … freezes. He's in better position (and has more leeway) to cut off a Rubio drive than George. Some of that is hindsight, but it's also common sense. You have to know who's on the floor and assess who you can afford to help off of.
On the very next possession, Utah generates another one of their 13 corner three attempts on the night:
Utah lives by the mantra of “advantage basketball.” The ball doesn't stop moving, and neither do the players. If the defense gives an inch, keep moving until that inch becomes a foot. That was on full display on this possession.
George does a decent job of containing the Ingles drive, but he also gets great help from Anthony and Adams. Ingles gives up the rock, but George relaxes after the pass is made. Ingles zips around Gobert and retreats to the corner before George recognized what was happening. George tries to recover, but it's too late at that point. He may have won the initial battle, but Ingles wins the war.
A couple of possessions later, OKC's aggressive pick-and-roll defense bites them in the backside. Again:
Utah goes to a simple 1-4 pick-and-roll as the clock winds down. Raymond Felton inexplicably jumps the screen to get over like he's guarding Steph Curry. George sinks to cut off the Rubio drive, because clearly Rubio is a bigger threat than the guy who has drained a pair of triples in the last minute and a half. Rubio makes the easy pass, and Ingles does the rest.
This was inexplicable stuff from a team that should no better. It shouldn't be difficult to communicate in transition. “Don't help off of Joe Ingles” is a pretty easy rule to follow. “Make Ricky Rubio a jump-shooter” isn't some exotic idea that has never been employed before. If Oklahoma City plans on making a comeback in this series, they're going to need to alter their approach defensively.
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