OKC too dependent for him – ESPN react to Thunder’s loss to Pacers 121-111 despite Shai’s explosion
Well the Pacers led by as many as 16 points in this game but we saw a resilient effort by the thunder in the second half of this game to take as much as a one-point lead but the Pacers ultimately would walk away with the victory just a little too much offense
Here tonight as they quell the Thunders nine game home winning streak with a 10-point victory here over the Oklahoma City Thunders you welcome you to Thunder live postgame I’m Paris Lawson sitting next to the Thunder’s very own Royce young and Royce as you look at this game
And unpack it a little bit the Pacers well they played as advertised really throughout the night we saw a lot of pace offensively a lot of speed getting downhill getting to the paint but the Thunder showed a lot of resilience a lot of fight in that second half yeah the
Game started kind of unusually slow for the thunder only 17 points in that first score we expected to shoot out and that was not the case early and like you said Paris the Thunder did a great job early in the third quarter to really kind of reassert themselves and really get
Immediately back in the game after a halftime deficit but you know as this game wore on it really just felt like there was just kind of these few moments that just didn’t go OKC’s way whether it was a loose ball a 50-50 ball that the Pacers
Got or a layup that just rolled its way out or a big three that didn’t drop there was just kind of these sequences where if they felt like they would have went OKC’s way they could have extended a lead or built a lead and instead they just kept going Indiana’s way and that
Was the difference in the game and sometimes those things just add up throughout a night and the Thunder they tried they put themselves in a position they started to get some Second Chance points that really helped to kind of TR of turn the tides a little bit but as we
Saw from the Pacers they did what they do best that’s get downhill and that’s play with Pace yeah we saw the Pacers out score the thunder in the paint which is not something you see all that often but really you look at the numbers the
Thunder were 26 of 55 in the paint which is not a great number especially not up to the standard of what we typically see from the thunder look I don’t know what the film’s going to end up saying when the coaching staff really breaks it down but just from watching this game Paris
It really felt like thunder just missed a lot that they normally make in a lot of different ways you know SGA specifically it was just kind of a uncharacteristic off night for him still got 30 that’s 48th time he’s done that this year a thunder franchise record but
You know it just wasn’t the Thunder fast ball as coach Mark would say but they still almost hung in there and beat a good Eastern Conference Team yeah it was a really good effort here inside of paycom Center let’s bring in Chris Fischer and Michael cage who were on the
Call for us tonight and get their perspective from their vantage point over there on the sidelines yeah thank you Paris this was a game that Indiana jumped out to an early lead maintain that lead and it was a game Michael that just didn’t feel like the the Thunder
Ever kind of got into their usual Rhythm early on with that low-scoring first quarter SGA was in a little bit of a shooting Funk he tried to bust out of it in the third quarter couldn’t do it and we saw some things that we don’t normally see like those first half
Turnovers and then Indiana plays to its strength getting on the move those fast break opportunities and 72 points in the paint the Thunder just could not quite get over the hill in the fourth quarter well they did a good job also of just kind of you know putting that first half
Behind you and say look all right we going we just going to load up in this third quarter and we anytime you get 41 points in a a quart any quarter you’re happy about that briefly took the lead so you know you get back on your feet
And then give the Pacers credit though they did not Buckle they kept stay with their system they moved the basketball uh the game slowed down for them in the second half sped up for the Thunder anytime you’re down 12 at the half you know if you’re the Thunder normally
You’re not down by that by that much so the defense cranked it up and then the offense got going off of that and then it just seems like that the fourth quarter got kind of slow in where the you know the Thunder had plenty of opportunities just could not get that
One shot to fall to put him over the hump and keep him over the want give the Pacers credit you know for a team that’s coming here with 36 and 29 record I thought they played some showed some really calm fought several runs at the Thunder inet second half before they
Were able to pull out the victory yeah this was a great game for Oklahoma City defensively we were talking about them being a top five team but I got the sense from Mark digal he was looking forward to playing Indiana just because of their offensive capabilities Thunder
Hadn’t played them up to this point it’s going to be interesting to see these two teams when they meet back in Indianapolis on April 5th and what the thuner can do defensively in that second adjustment yeah certainly going to take all the lessons from this game and apply
That to that second meeting in April Chris and Mike thank you so much and you know what’s interesting we talked coming into this game about the magic number for Indianapolis it’s 120 points they got 121 here tonight when they score under 120 they’re 4- 11 for the season
But when they get above 120 well it’s a different number for it’s a different it’s a winning winning record for them throughout the season and things look a little bit different for them yeah really the Thunder did a great job against them defensively because they got that 121 because the Thunder were
Fouling late that’s really kind of what ended up putting him over the top but you know it’s like what Michael cage was talking about you do have to give the Pacers a lot of credit they came out they disrupted OK Casey’s offense look reality is thunder were missing Jaylen
Williams a big part of their offense and Thunder play in such a rhythm Style Paris as we know that you know there’s an adjustment there that has to be made and I think that that clearly impacted OKC early the Thunder not going to make any excuses about this when jdub is very
Important to what they do but the Thunder had every chance to win this one they just didn’t make the shots when they needed to all right what do you say we roll the tape back and take this one all the way back to the first quarter
How this game started cuz there were a lot of es light doesn’t show you is what you mentioned earlier all of the the shots that OKC generated throughout the game that felt like really quality looks that just did not go in in this game you see the final numbers here for OKC they
Weren’t exactly the numbers that we typically see for OKC throughout this season that third quarter really helped bump up that three-point shooting percentage for OKC throughout the night the field goal percentage but then of course the Pacers and they’re 54% from the field throughout this night and of
Course their points in the paint as well but earlier I mentioned those easy looks for the Thunder that typically would go in on one night but just didn’t go in here yeah I mean that’s the way it goes look I mean you know Again full credit
To the Pacers but they are not known as a like one of the top defensive teams in the league they came in ranked 25th in defensive rating so you know they played a good defensive game they put the Thunder under pressure but a lot of that
Has to do with OKC not making the shots that we typically see them make but again the the Pacers outscored the thunder 23-3 in Fast Break points that’s a area of emphasis for Indiana they like to run they like to play Fast they’re fourth in transition points on the
Season but you know they got out they were able to establish lead and really kind of put the Thunder Under Pressure without a key component in jdub on the team it just it just kind of cranks up that kind of pressure on you to try to
Execute and the Pacers were able to do it more regularly than the Thunder were yeah coach dagnal said coming into this game that it would be a really good CH for this Thunder team and a good challenge it was a lot of lessons to take away from this one Casey Thunder
Mark uh how much of this one is kind of a a hat tip to Indiana and and their ability to push back on you every time you you guys made a run versus uh things that you guys you know just didn’t quite get to tonight that you normally do well
I thought they showed great resilience credit them they played really well from the jump uh and then fend it off a couple different runs of ours in the second half they on the road you know show great Poise so they definitely deserve a lot of credit uh it wasn’t our
Best game I thought there was a lot we left on the table especially offensively tonight um just weren’t able to create the Rhythm uh that we would have liked I thought we had a good job on the glass with had 17 Second Chance points but if
You look at the game through that uh framework you know the first shot offense obviously wasn’t very good so a lot of work to do but um you know we can learn from it all season long your half court offense has been one of the very best in the league uh anything
Specifically inside the half court that um got bogged down a little bit tonight yeah I’ll have to watch it I thought um just naked eye could have done a better job at getting to the next action tonight uh especially in the first half I thought we did a good job of that in
The third um but just too many possessions where uh you know we weren’t leveraging each other and working together uh which is a good lesson you know the game gets a lot harder when we do that so again we got to learn from it look at it we’re not going to be perfect
Every night um there’s lessons in every game we got to learn them from this one Mark obviously case usually takes a start you went with Gordon tonight I just wonder what you Thought fore Spe I’m just getting started I want you in a p of your own an ally has been defeated An ally has been defeated stay awake surprise tower has Destroyed you will never know what’s on my mind you have defeated an Enemy enemy Ultimate Enemy double kill Eny enemy double kill an ally has been defeated hey An enemy has been defeated double kill triple kill an ally has been defeated no one can escape the web that I Do to yeah you an ally has been defeated enemy double Kill enemy ultimate an ally has been defeated our base is under attack you have defeated an enemy enemy onun double kill I’m just getting Started double kill an Ally has been defeated enemy double kill your team has destroyed a tower nothing like a little danger to stay awake shut down can’t get out of enemy ultimate an ally has been defeated our BAS is under attack de like It put say I know Spee
OKC too dependent for him – ESPN react to Thunder’s loss to Pacers 121-111 despite Shai’s explosion
