No Dwight Howard? OKC Can't Capitalize

By A. Suave Francisco

A Dwight Howard-less Atlanta Hawks team came into the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday night to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hearing that, you'd automatically assume that Steven Adams and  Enes Kanter had two productive nights, right? Well, that wasn't the case by any means and the Thunder dropped another game by less than 5 points, 110-108. They had a great chance to tie with an end of regulation dunk by Steven Adams, but the shot was waved off.

This was such a great game for three players, and three players only: Inevitably, Russell Westbrook and surprisingly, two defensive-minded players who stepped up offensively in Andre Roberson and Jerami Grant, who combined for 29 points on 10-for-21 shooting. Roberson started the game in normal fashion, but he did hit 3 three-pointers during the course of the game while Jerami Grant shot a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance. 

As impressive as this is, there's absolutely no reason why Roberson should shoot the ball 14 times a game unless they are under the basket or in transition. While it's refreshing to see a player that may not be as stout on the offensive end build confidence and play well, this was a prime time for OKC to expose ATL's crippled frontcourt. Paul Millsap is good, he scored 30 points, but he can't contain both Kanter and Adams at the same time. 

This will be a question moving forward, because it seemed obvious to everyone but seemingly Billy Donovan. Adams and Kanter finished with a combined 14 points and 16 rebounds. Considering Kanter came into the game and within 2 minutes he had 4 points and 3 rebounds, you'd think they'd keep feeding him the ball when there were mismatches, which seemed every time down the floor. As far as Steven goes, a guy making $26 million per year has to produce more than 6 points and 9 rebounds in 30 minutes of play, against a team without their premier post defender. 

Not a great showing for the Thunder as a team, but Russell Westbrook had another big game with 46 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists on 16-for-33 shooting. 

The Thunder fall to (16-12) on the season and a game and a half out of sixth in the Western Conference. The return of Victor Oladipo and Cameron Payne in the next couple weeks will help this team presumably string together another winning streak that'll get the Thunder back in the four-to-five-seed range in the conference. Next up for OKC will be Wednesday evening against the New Orleans Pelicans, a team they've already defeated earlier in the season.