BOX SCORES

vs TOR (L 102-112):

35 MINS | 14 PTS (3/5 FG, 8/8 FT) | 12 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PF

vs LAC (L 108-110):

32 MINS | 6 PTS (2/5 FG, 2/2 FT) | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 TO | 4 PF

vs ORL (L 117-119):

35 MINS | 13 PTS (6/13 FG, 1/1 FT) | 10 REB | 1 STL | 1 BK | 1 TO | 1 PF

at DET (L 88-104):

29 MINS | 4 PTS (1/3 FG, 2/4 FT) | 11 REB | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 2 PF

NEXT WEEK

vs Houston Rockets, Thursday 2.00pm NZT

vs Brooklyn Nets, Saturday, 2.00pm

vs Indiana Pacers, Monday, 1.00pm

at Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, 4.30pm

vs TORONTO RAPTORS

Statistically this was a great game for Stevie. 14 points, 12 rebounds. Stayed out of foul trouble once again and made all 8 of his free throws. Just the seventh time in his career that he’s got to the line eight times or more and in the past that was probably down to players hacking to send him there on purpose. 8 FTs is the most he’s ever made in a game and he did so without a miss, his previous best total without a miss was a 6/6 night against the Lakers back in early 2015. His free throw shooting has obviously been buried beneath a few other major narratives with the Thunder but through 11 games he’s made 23 of 26 of them. 88.5% which is amongst the very best in the NBA.

But they lost. The Thunder lost, going down by ten to the Raptors (who are bloody good, by the way). DeMar DeRozan has been on a legendary tear to start the season having scored 30+ in all but one game when this one tipped off – a narrow loss to the Sacramento Kings a few days earlier. Naturally, this one eventually descended into a one-outs between DeMar and Russell. Hey, it’s what we all wanted to see.

The Thunder actually shot out to a 12-0 lead to start the game. Adams got himself a layup amidst that, with the Thunder popping 52.5% in the first quarter. Eventually the Raptors did start making their buckets though, closing the gap to 27-20 at the first break before dropping 42 points in the second. Again, the OKC bench blew a lead that the starters had given them and after Russ had gone all three point contest with DeMarre Carroll and Patrick Peterson at the end of 2Q, Toronto led by 7 and they added 6 to that over the third.

Enes Kanter helped close the gap to five points early in the fourth and then with a spot under five mins remaining a couple Steve-oh free throws made it 99-95. That was as close as they got, Russ taking a couple silly attempts and the Raps doing what they do to close out. DeRozan scored 37 points to edge Westbrook’s 36, though DeMar was 13/22 from the field while Russ was 9/26. Big diffo, there. Russ also had 8 turnovers to go with 7 boards and 7 assists.

Adams drew that foul off of DeRozan and the two shared a couple words, which led to a very soft double tech. Nah guys, not allowed to talk during the game.

Thunder Digest: “In every loss, there has to be some silver linings. Tonight that was Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo. Adams was active on both ends and showed some more great offensive touch. He finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Oladipo was the only Thunder player that consistently hit from three tonight, sinking five of them. He finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.”

NewsOK: “Against Toronto, Donovan said, the Thunder's big men failed to recognize situations where they needed to get out of high pick and rolls and instead get to the middle of the floor where they could take passes and become playmakers. The result was that Oklahoma City rarely was properly spaced, limiting its ability to find easy passing targets when defenders were forced to help.”

vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

The Clippers have been destroying teams so far. Chris Paul’s been great, Blake Griffin’s getting it done and their starting five is as good as any not based in Golden State. Even getting a couple things from their bench for once too. In fact when they met the Thunder here they’d only lost once all season: to OKC at Staples, where Westbrook late jumper sealed an 85-83 result.

Russ was good again here, trying plenty fewer threes though he did miss a lot of mid-range shots throughout. 9/25 all up, with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Not a good one for Adams, however. The Big Kiwi would only score 6 with 5 boards, missing out a bit with a few fouls but also just not playing all that well against the threat of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Blake had 25 points, DeAndre had 12p/13r.

On the positive though, OKC made 16/28 from 3pt. Both Victor Oladipo (18 pts) and Andre Roberson (13 pts) had their touches going and Enes Kanter added 13 points with 11 rebounds. For LAC, Chris Paul had 17p/10a and J.J. Reddick added 16 points. Jamal Crawford scored 19 off the bench.

In the first quarter, it was OKC in the midst of a home-stand that looked the better. They kept the Clips to almost one in five from the field, 22.5% to be specific, as they gathered a lead that peaked at 8 points. That lead was gone by half-time, overhauled exactly with the scores at 50-apiece. The Clippers then took control in the third but a late run from Westbrook and the boys had the game all tied once again at 102-102 thanks to a Russ triple with 2:16 remaining. Saving his best contributions ‘til last, Adams got to the line and sunk a pair of pressurised free throws to make it 104-all after Mo Speights had given the Clips the lead back, only for a couple turnovers to spoil the Thunder at the worst time. Still, Westbrook kept it close enough and he could have won the game on the final possession with a three point attempt which he admitted later was maybe not the best option.

Russ: “Yeah, I probably should have drove it, but it was all right”

Daily Thunder: “I’m a little disappointed in Steven Adams’ lack of offense. I just thought there’d be more of him as a threat in the pick-and-roll. He got a couple buckets tonight, but six and five in 32 minutes isn’t great production. Good defense, sure, but Adams needs to produce more than that.”

vs ORLANDO MAGIC

So after two very tough matches, the Thunder had themselves one last homer against the Orlando Magic. A team that’s been out of the playoffs ever since Dwight Howard left them and a team they certainly will have planned on winning to snap their first streak of defeats all season. Except they didn’t account for the Serge Ibaka revenge game.

Yeah, Ibaka was traded away at draft time, with Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis coming back the other way. It was clearly a move to shield themselves against the possibility of Kevin Durant leaving by getting younger and a little better in terms of overall talent, however Serge Ibaka remains (at this moment in time at least) the best player in that trade and he was pretty keen to explain why.

Royce Young/ESPN: “Serge Ibaka is out on the floor to warm up and just spent a solid five minutes shaking hands and chatting with Thunder staffers and former teammates. Quite the different scene from when the Thunder faced another former teammate on Oakland a couple weeks ago.”

This time (for once) the Thunder did not start well. They couldn’t have started much worse in fact, a strong power forward causing them problems as has happened a couple times (as happened the previous game with Blake) and this one had a chip on his shoulder. End of the first, Serge already had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Thunder then spent a large chunk of the game trying to make up for that, finally drawing level and then ahead right at the end of the third quarter thanks to a bit of what Enes Kanter does. Which was ideal, coz we then got a whole bunch of lead changes through an entertaining fourth quarter, Russell Westbrook exploding his way towards 41 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds with only 2 turnovers. If he hadn’t missed a few free throws and all three of his treble attempts then this’d be one of his finest games. But… he did. And he also missed a 19-footer with 11 seconds left, allowing just enough time for Serge Ibaka to run the final play. He got Stevie off his feet in coverage and sunk it over top of him for the win. Ouch.

Ibaka had 31 points with 9 boards. Elfrid Payton scored 23 (9a & 7r) and Evan Fournier 21 in the narrow Magic win. Oladipo didn’t have nearly the same impact against his old team scoring only 12 points (6/9 FG) while Kiwi Steve’s double-double was lessened by 6/13 shooting and some erratic defence at times. Enes Kanter had 16p & 8r off the bench.

Serge Ibaka: “I'm not going to lie to you, it feels good.”

At least there was this:

… which is promptly cancelled out by this:

Steven Adams: “We can't come out and start like that. That's real hard to put yourself in a dog box. Then to have to work your way out of there, you're asking for an uphill battle.”

Thunder Digest: “It’s the first time Oklahoma City lost to the Magic at home since Nov. 12, 2008.”

at DETROIT PISTONS

The week was bad and it officially became a disaster as the Thunder lost on the road to a Pistons team that was without Andre Drummond. In his place it was Aussie Aron Baynes that started and plundered 20 points in a thoroughly embarrassing result for Steven Adams, trans-Tasman rivalries being as they are.

Adams would only attempt three field goals all game, this was not a good one at all for him. His erratic scoring totals have been a little bit odd, he also had a 2 points game the first time they met the Clippers and that one also saw him only attempt 3 FGs. This game came after 13 FGAs, that one after 12 FGAs vs the Lakers. Weird that. Also bad. Yes, pretty bad.

That’s not too far off the mark. It’s not entirely on the centre to get himself involved in the offence but not being able to get consistent numbers from him when there isn’t a genuine second scorer on the team is hurting the Thunder. Plus his defence hasn’t quite been at the same level, although that’s to be expected given he’s often out there doing things himself with a rookie PF beside him. That was always where Ibaka’s presence was gonna be missed the most – by the way Serge never once scored 31 points in a Thunder jersey. But when things like this are happening… hmm.

Billy Donovan was asked about the balance with Adams on offence and he has some pretty interesting things to say.

Bloody Baynes was playing with one of those dumb masks on too, to go with his samurai haircut. That’s not the look of a player who’s meant to dominate you. Westbrook actually hit him in the mask at one stage in the fourth quarter and Baynes needed treatment to stop the bleeding. Goddamn. He was really good here, gotta admit it, Ol’ Baynebags. Didja know he was born in NZ?

The Pistons were always gonna be a difficult task though. The last team remaining undefeated at home plus the Thunder were away on the second night of a back-to-back. Detroit led 8-1 a lil over three minutes into the game and that came with a Steven Adams turnover on the first play and a missed free throw from the Moa as well. Westbrook had an insane first half scoring 25 points including the final 14 of the half – which didn’t include a buzzer beating three that he got off a shade too late. However the Pistons hammered OKC in the post, Adams on the end of some but especially the bench unit. Lucky for them, Kanter and Grant also chipped in with some points to help their cases.

But Detroit still led 59-47 at the break and they’d extend that to as many as 19 points. Then too many missed shots ensured they never really got their second half comeback going. Oladipo had a shocker with 4/17 shooting for 9 points, while Andre Roberson, who is normally a crap shooter but’s been doing well recently with 11/21 in the previous two games from the field, only took three shots as well. 33 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists for Russell Westbrook. Baynes scored 20 for DET and Tobias Harris added 22. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17.

Erik Horne/NewsOK: “Westbrook said that no matter who the Pistons had out there Monday night, the Thunder’s defense has to be better. The Thunder allowed 60 points in the paint, 30 in each half. “We’re one of the top teams in the league when we play (good) defensively,” Westbrook said. “So I’m not really worried about who’s playing and who’s not.” After Enes Kanter made a 12-foot jumper to get the Thunder to within one at 30-29, the Pistons went on their tear. The starting combination of Kanter, Semaj Christon, Alex Abrines, Joffrey Lauvergne and Grant went scoreless (0-of-4) for more than two minutes after Kanter’s jumper. By the time Donovan brought Westbrook, Steven Adams and the struggling Victor Oladipo back at 8:14, the Pistons led by 11.”

WTLC Player Grades: Steven Adams: D+

“The spirited Steven Adams was noticeably subdued vs. Detroit. This unusual absence of fervor was manifest as Aron Baynes torched the Thunder front-line for 20 points. Baynes — who is not noted for his offensive production — held a previous season-high of four points. While the “Kiwi Warrior” also committed three turnovers, his saving grace on a very forgettable night was hauling in 11 rebounds and netting a team-best -plus two plus- minus in 29 minutes.”

Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams has been somewhat disappointing so far this season. Sure, his numbers are officially up, but considering the expectations of him coming into the season — most saw him as OKC’s second best player — he hasn’t lived up to them. Consider his per 36 minute numbers: last season, 11.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 61.3 percent shooting; this season, 11.2 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 51.2 percent shooting. I said this all preseason: The Thunder’s margin between very good and good/average is in how well Adams plays.”

WTLC: “Last year’s team, which obviously had Serge as well as #35, evolved into a defensive bulldog because of the range they had on the back line, erasing shots. This year’s team doesn’t have that luxury, and it puts even more pressure on their guards to stay in their lanes, not gamble, and filter the shooters to Steven Adams instead of making him chase them.”

After starting 6-1 the Thunder are now 6-5 with a four game losing streak going. Steven Adams is one who needs to pick up his performance but he’s far from the only one. Safe to say the early record wasn’t reflective of what this team is, though that doesn’t make this current run of form any easier to swallow. Next up they get the en fuego James Harden, who is probably the MVP frontrunner three weeks into the season. No pressure, guys.

ODDS & ENDS