With center Steven Adams and backup big Mike Muscala both out with injury, Oklahoma City was stretched thin in the post in the 121-92 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
They were outmatched by 22 rebounds — Memphis had 58 rebounds while Oklahoma City had 36. They were outscored in the paint by nearly the exact same margin, 56 points for the Grizzlies and 36 for the Thunder.
Memphis center Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes, making eight of 11 shots.
Yet Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said he didn’t want his team to use the absence of the two bigs and guard Dennis Schroder as a reason for the loss.
“I don’t like to use that as an excuse,” Donovan said. “I think that we are capable of defending better than we defended today. So I wouldn’t want to use those guys as an excuse.”
[lawrence-related id=435968,435977]
Yet while Donovan would not give his players an out by saying Adams’ absence was the cause, he peppered in shortcomings of the Thunder that, with very little analysis, Adams and Schroder could have helped with.
Donovan specifically mentioned pick-and-roll coverage as lacking and commented on Memphis’ points in the paint, saying Valanciunas “physically overwhelmed” Oklahoma City.
Then, the help defense was ineffective in stopping the Grizzlies.
“When we did bring help, we were late closing to shooters. We needed to be a little bit more on point,” Donovan said. “We certainly wanted to, with (Dillon) Brooks and (Ja) Morant, show them a crowd, to try to prevent them from getting into the teeth of the defense.”
Morant only made five field goals but scored 19 points. Brooks had a team-high 22 on 10-for-18 shooting.
In pressuring those two, it was more difficult to double-team the post and play help defense on the inside. Backing up Valanciunas and Anthony Tolliver, forward Brandon Clarke and center Gorgui Dieng had a dozen points apiece.
“You’ve gotta do multiple things. Not only do you’ve gotta get there and help but you’ve gotta be able to close back out and contest shots,” Donovan said.
The Thunder weren’t able to get down low and help. They weren’t able to close out on shooters. They weren’t able to make their own shots, either.
After making seven of 11 3-pointers over the first 11 minutes of the game, the Thunder went just 6-for-32 from deep over the rest of the game.
They lost a lead that had been as high as 18 points, getting outscored 70-41 in the second and third quarters.
Point guard Chris Paul repeated what Donovan said. The team can’t say that missing Adams was the reason they loss.
“Obviously we miss Steven … but we still had a game plan, had a nice lead,” Paul said. “We just gotta play better.”
[vertical-gallery id=435988]