48-24.
Monday against the Houston Rockets was the fourth time in the last six games in which the opponent of the Oklahoma City Thunder either doubled OKC’s point output in the first quarter or were one basket away from doubling it.
A quick look back at the last two weeks:
Jan. 22: Clippers led 36-18 after one. Thunder lost 120-106.
Jan. 24: Clippers led 36-19 after one. Thunder lost 108-100.
Jan. 27: Suns led 32-17 after one. Thunder won 102-97.
Feb. 1: Rockets led 48-24. Thunder lost 136-130.
By the time the first quarter on Monday ended, the new-look Houston team was almost halfway to 100. The Thunder wouldn’t even reach 48 until there was just 1:30 left in the second quarter. It wasn’t a contest.
“I didn’t think we had a lot of physicality on-ball or in our help,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “They got into rhythm and they got really comfortable. Which, you know, they came into the game in a rhythm – they’ve won five in a row, they’ve played really well — we needed a little more pop tonight to stop them.”
This 30-point loss to the Rockets may have been the worst of the season for Oklahoma City. The Thunder lacked energy. Their defense struggled. They couldn’t produce plays offensively consistently. The Thunder have given up more than 120 points in three of their last four games, and the 2-2 record over that span feels like a microcosm of the season.
Sure, Oklahoma City is .500 in that stretch. But the wins are tight and the losses are ugly.
“So much of defense is predicated on energy and spirit and will. But we also chart our defense every single game to try to be a little more process-oriented. There was a game in Portland earlier in the week where we gave up a lot of points, our rating defensively wasn’t great, but we charted out really well and it was just a night where they made shots. Whereas the Nets game the other night, we didn’t chart out well,” Daigneault said.
“We try to focus on controllables after the game. Obviously the game’s emotional, no one likes to give up 130 points, 20-something 3s, or 30 3s, however many they made, but we need to find the stuff that we can control.”
This game had some of both. Most teams won’t shoot 28-for-52 from 3-point range and attempt 102 total field goal attempts. But the defense allowing the Rockets to get that many shots, Oklahoma City getting outrebounded, the team finding no answer for any individual player on Houston. Those types of things must be addressed in film sessions Tuesday before the rematch on Wednesday.
Daigneault was asked if the defense is in a slump.
“I think slumps are an emotional thing. We try to use process and try to use fundamentals to remove the emotion and really root down into the stuff that we can control,” he said.
Center Al Horford was asked directly if the defense over the last two games concerns him.
“It does. It does concern me,” he said. “This team can be much better.”
The good news is that the Thunder tend to do well after having time to review. Daigneault has impressed with his halftime adjustments. The second game against the Clippers was much, much better than the first. The Thunder and Rockets will have a day to prepare for the rematch.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it. We came out tonight, we didn’t have it, we didn’t make effort plays. It wasn’t the team we usually are on the defensive end, and it cost us the game tonight big time,” said guard Hamidou Diallo, who scored 15 points in 15 minutes.
“Try to come in here next game with a different mentality. That’s what it’s going to take to beat these really good teams.”
The bad news, for Oklahoma City at least, is that this isn’t the Houston team sans-James Harden that many expected when the trade was made. The Rockets are now 7-3 without Harden and have won six games in a row. This team is on fire.
None of that will have changed when the two meet Wednesday. Oklahoma City didn’t have an answer for Eric Gordon (25 points in 22 minutes), John Wall or Christian Wood (18 points apiece) or DeMarcus Cousins (17 points).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 19 and couldn’t get going like normal. Nobody else on the team scored more than 15 points.
There’s quite a bit the Thunder need to work on before the next matchup.
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