Thunder Give Away Another One
By Randy Renner, Senior Writer
It’s hard to win a game when you can’t hold onto the basketball long enough to put up a shot much less actually make one.
The Thunder turned the ball over 24 times (a new season-high) leading to a whopping 35 Charlotte points and they put the Hornets on the free throw line 32 times where the visitors scored 28 points, more than enough to put a fork in OKC’s chances.
Hornets 113, Thunder 101.
Russell Westbrook took another step toward history with his 40th triple-double, 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. He can tie the legendary Oscar Robertson’s record of 41 triples in a season Tuesday night against Milwaukee.
Asked his thoughts about that Westbrook simply said, “We gotta win, that’s my thoughts.”
63 points off turnovers and free throws for Charlotte compared to just 26 scored the same way for the Thunder wasn’t enough to get a win on a Sunset Sunday afternoon.
Billy Donovan didn’t have to look at the film to know what did his team in.
“Their free throws were big and the turnovers really hurt us,” he said. “We dug ourselves a really big hole throwing it to the other team.”
Several big holes actually and the Thunder kept digging but as soon as they would get close, they went back to playing giveaway.
They cut a 13-point Charlotte lead to just five seconds before halftime but instead of coming out and getting after the Hornets to start the 3rd quarter it went the other way with the Hornets zipping out on a 13-0 run to push the lead to 18 and OKC could get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
“They sell out to protect the paint,” Donovan said, “so the perimeter was wide open but we didn’t take advantage of that.”
Without actually saying the Thunder didn’t play as hard or as determined as Charlotte he strongly hinted at that.”
“The Hornets are desperate, they’re trying to get into the playoffs. So they had a lot to do with how we played.”
The Hornets are among five teams in the Eastern Conference battling it out for the last two spots in the playoffs. Every game could mean the difference between getting in or staying home. The Hornets have responded to that challenge winning now seven of their last nine.
The Thunder have now lost two straight and they’re darn lucky it’s not four consecutive. If not for two miracle finishes in Dallas and Orlando it would be.
OKC again struggled to score at times. Only two of Westbrook’s teammate got into double digits, Victor Oladipo had 19 points and Andre Roberson had a dozen. But Steven Adams could manage only a bucket and Enes Kanter had just nine.
Still this game was won and lost at the free throw line where Charlotte was 28-for-32 compared to OKC’s 11-for-12 and in turnovers where OKC gave it away 24 times for 35 points to Charlotte’s 18 for 15 Thunder points.
Milwaukee will be in here Tuesday night and the Bucks are long and athletic too, then it’s a four game road trip before the season finale against Denver next week.
Games that just days ago looked awfully winnable now are questionable if the Thunder can’t figure some things out.