The Oklahoma City Thunder walked into a new world on Monday, thousands of miles from home, against an unknown opponent. In what might have been the single greatest preseason game of all time, they began the post-Kevin Durant era with a 142-137 loss to Real Madrid in overtime.
The quick summary: The Thunder led by as many as 22 in the first half, but with Russell Westbrook (18 points and four assists) playing in only the first and third quarters (22 minutes total), Steven Adams sitting the second half with a right-ankle sprain and defensive stopper Andre Roberson playing only 21 minutes, Real Madrid used some sharpshooting from the perimeter to engineer a comeback. Victor Oladipo, playing like it was a playoff game, scored 34 points on 14-of-24 shooting in his Thunder debut, while Enes Kanter added 29 and 10 rebounds.
With seconds remaining, Real Madrid intentionally missed a second free throw, corralled the offensive rebound and Sergio Llull hit a 3 at the buzzer to force overtime. In the extra frame, embarrassing defensive breakdowns led to Real outscoring OKC 16-11 and handing the Thunder a loss.
But before you pass too much judgment on the Thunder, ignoring the context of the preseason and playing-time distribution, consider this: The mighty San Antonio Spurs lost to Alba Berlin in 2014 in the preseason and somehow recovered, winning 55 games that season.
Still: Considering the talk out of Thunder camp largely has been about a renewed defensive mentality, getting torched for 142 points, including 92 in the second half plus overtime, is fairly disconcerting. The Thunder have spent the opening weeks of training camp working basics as Billy Donovan reconfigures his offense and defense following the loss of two stalwart starters. It clearly showed on Monday.
A few other stray takeaways:
For years, the Thunder got used to one, or sometimes two, guys closing out every tight game. They looked for Durant, or Westbrook, and mostly shucked any ball movement. Whether it was isolation plays or pick-and-rolls wholly designed around those two, OKC enjoyed the incredible luxury of two stars for crunch time, while also being handicapped by it. Now, with Westbrook running solo as the star, they're going to have to take a far more democratic approach. Westbrook is not a great closer; he often takes bad shots, is turnover prone and doesn't make a lot of tough looks. So the Thunder need options, and Monday against Real Madrid was a great experience with this. First, it was Kanter in the post, and he scored nine straight in the fourth. Then it was Alex Abrines, who nailed two big 3s.
Of those two 3s, one was set up by Kanter passing nicely out of a double-team. That was an issue for Kanter last season, and something he wasn't used to. But he read the play and made a cross-court pass to Kyle Singler, who swung it to an open Abrines for 3. That's not the kind of crunch-time basketball we're used to seeing from the Thunder.
Roberson, who slowly began to find confidence as an offensive threat in the 2016 postseason, was decisive with the ball, attacking on catches and setting up teammates.
The Thunder went with Westbrook, Oladipo, Roberson, rookie Domantas Sabonis and Adams as their starting five. Perhaps Sabonis got the nod because his legendary father, Arvydas, played for Real Madrid, but it's more likely the Thunder are looking hard at using the rookie at the starting power forward spot. The organization is extremely high on the No. 11 overall pick, and with Sabonis flashing range out to the 3 (he went 1-of-2 on Monday), there's a feeling that pairing him with Adams makes the most sense.
Westbrook is one of the best post players in the game, never mind among guards, and one area Donovan has talked about wanting to expand upon is allowing him to catch the ball on the block rather than dribbling into post-ups. That was clearly a focus in the third quarter with the Thunder running a few sets with Westbrook on the block and looking for a pass.
The Thunder's starting five could be an elite defensive unit: Westbrook and Oladipo are disruptive ball hawks; Roberson is lengthy and versatile; Adams is strong and can protect the paint. After that, though, the other lineups could be defensive disasters. That showed in the second half on Monday with Adams, Westbrook and Roberson sitting for the bulk of it.
Abrines was very positive, hitting 4-of-5 from 3, including a pair of potential daggers late in the fourth quarter. He confidently stepped into both shots, showing no hesitation. The defensive end is the question for him, but offensively, he could be a vital part of creating some much-needed space for Westbrook and Oladipo to operate.
The Thunder finish their Spanish trip on Wednesday taking on Barcelona.
