Thunder suffers deflating loss to Kings
You can blame the Thunder offense for a 131-120 loss to the Sacramento Kings in a deflating Chesapeake Arena opener Sunday night. The Thunder missed 30 3-point shots and 11 foul shots.
You can blame the Thunder defense. The traditionally woeful Kings apparently are one of the NBA’s best shooting teams, but Sacramento didn’t need to bother with longrange shots; they made five of nine in the first quarter and took only 13 3-point attempts the rest of the game.
Or you can blame the league itself, transitioning to an offensive free-for-all in which shooting is paramount.
The latter should scare the Thunder the most.
Western Conference opponents won’t come any easier than Sacramento, which hasn’t surpassed 33 wins since 2008.
But the Kings are young and can shoot. The Thunder is young in spots and can’t shoot. Can’t shoot a lick.
Through three games, the Thunder’s overall shooting percentage is 39 percent, its 3-point percentage is .239 and its foul shooting percentage is .667. That’s losing basketball in any era. In this era, it’s a recipe to get avalanched.
“What we’re seeing now, the way the game has evolved, a lot of movement, cutting,” Billy Donovan said. “Constant repetitive movement for 24 seconds. You have to be able
to have the endurance to keep up with that. Everybody’s playing that way ... there’s running all over the place.”
Shooting is at a premium, and the Thunder doesn’t have it, which explains an 0-3 start. OKC failed to match up with the Kings even though Russell Westbrook returned from knee surgery and was sensational in his season debut, with 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting, 12 rebounds and eight assists. But Westbrook got caught up in the frustration of trying to hang with the Kings, flinging up six 3-pointers and making just one.
With the game still in doubt, Kings leading 104-98 in the fourth quarter, the Thunder air-balled 3-point shots on three straight possessions. Dennis Schroder, Deonte Burton and Jerami Grant did the honors. Not exactly Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, but there were worse options for the Thunder on this and most nights.
Then with the Thunder scratching to stay in the game, down six with 2:35 left, the Kings made five straight shots and scored on six straight possessions. That would have been discouraging defense against the grand 2002 Kings, of which three starters were in the house — television analyst Doug Christie and front-office executives Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic. But these Kings aren’t those Kings.
Donovan chalked it up to Sacramento just making shots. The Thunder after the first quarter ran the Kings off the 3-point line and, Donovan said, made tough mid-range shots. I don’t know. By my count, Sacramento went 11 of 18 on mid-range shots, but by the official box score, it was six of 12. Either way, the Kings loaded up in the paint, making 34 of 57, virtually equaling the Thunder’s 34 of 59.
If a 3-point shooting team like Sacramento matches the Thunder in the paint, it’s all over for the boys in blue.
Donovan ended up blaming the defense more than the offense, and rightfully so. Iman Shumpert, a journeyman if ever there was one — admit it, you didn’t know he was even still in the league — scored 26 points, one shy of his career high, and had 16 points in the first 8 ½ minutes. Shumpert has had only five games of more than 22 points in his eight-year NBA career. But he torched the Thunder.
“Shots fell for ‘em, they didn’t fall for us,” 14-year veteran Raymond Felton said. “We’ll be all right. We’ll figure it out.”
But what if the Thunder figures out it doesn’t have enough shooting in the new-age NBA game?
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman. com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok. com/berrytramel.