National Basketball Association

Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 Suggestions For Game 3

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:37 p.m. ET

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Apr 16, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) sits before game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

After leading the majority of Game 2, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell short late to go down 2-0 against the Houston Rockets.

After going 13-for-25 from the field in the first three quarters, Russell Westbrook converted just 4-of-18 field goal attempts in the final frame as the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Houston Rockets, 115-111.

It left Westbrook with a gaudy box score, but he and his teammates without the win.

The 2016-17 NBA scoring champion was 17-of-43 from the field for 51 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. The performance has no precedent statistically, as the previous highest point total for a playoff triple-double was Charles Barkley with 43 in 1993.

As Oklahoma City heads home to try to defend its home court as Houston did, head coach Billy Donovan will have to make more adjustments after tweaking several concepts that aided in bringing the Thunder to the brink of victory.

Oklahoma City was +11 in the rebounding battle, a must to give the Thunder a chance in the series. Loud City also did its best to limit the number of switches placing Thunder bigs on James Harden, particularly Enes Kanter, who was allowed on the court only when Houston's bearded MVP candidate was off the court.

Moving forward, here are a few more adjustments Donovan and Oklahoma City can work on to aid their battle to defend one of the best home court advantages in the NBA.

Apr 16, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) attempts to score during the first quarter against the Houston Rockets in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Get Steven Adams More Involved

Over the first two games of the series, the New Zealand native is 5-of-9 from the field in just under 56 minutes of floor time.

Despite a small sample size, Adams' numbers are noticeably down from last year's playoff run when many pointed to him as one of the blossoming bigs in the association.

Playoffs Per Game Table
Season	Age	Tm	Lg	Pos	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	BLK	PTS
2015-16	22	OKC	NBA	C	18	18	30.7	3.8	6.2	.613	2.6	4.1	.630	3.4	6.1	9.5	0.8	10.1
2016-17	23	OKC	NBA	C	2	2	27.5	2.5	4.5	.556	0.5	2.0	.250	2.0	4.0	6.0	1.0	5.5
Career	NBA	38	20	24.7	2.7	4.3	.630	1.4	2.6	.550	2.3	4.4	6.8	1.1	6.9

Houston's strategy is to clog the lane and limit any penetration from Westbrook and one of the NBA's worst shooting teams, which spells danger for Adams. Still, Westbrook is among the very best in inventing space to create something, and he and Adams have built a nice two-man chemistry.

Force feeding the seven-footer for his patented push floaters in the lane and mechanical but effective post moves early could be a useful strategy to get Adams involved and engaged on both ends. He's certainly the best option out of all of the Thunder's slow-footed behemoths against the stretchy, versatile Rockets.

Feb 28, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Doug McDermott (25) shoots the ball over Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Put Doug McDermott At Power Forward

Dougie McBuckets was billed as a godsend for Oklahoma City when he and Taj Gibson were acquired by the Thunder at the trade deadline. Since that trade occured, McDermott has languished in and out of Billy Donovan's rotation.

This series seems like it'd be an ideal fit for McDermott's best skill, and something Oklahoma City desperately needs: long range shooting and someone the Rockets have to pay attention to beyond the three-point line.

In under 14 minutes Wednesday night, McDermott was 4-of-5 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep for 11 points. One of those treys was at the beginning of the fourth quarter after being on the bench for nearly a quarter.

McDermott would be a natural fit to guard Ryan Anderson, Houston's slow-footed sharpshooting big, and could release some of the stranglehold Oklahoma City's offense has operated on with multiple non-shooters often on the court, not to mention a slumping Victor Oladipo.

McDermott may give up some of the Thunder's rebounding prowess, but it could be worth it in exchange for providing them with a bonafide knockdown shooter in crunch time to occupy at least one defender when Westbrook inevitably goes full Rambo mode in Game 3.

Apr 7, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan with guard Norris Cole (30) and guard Semaj Christon (6) against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Try Different Bench Lineups

Each of Oklahoma City's bench players were a minus in Game 2, with Jerami Grant bottoming out at -20 in 26 minutes of game time.

The most egregious mistake by the Thunder's bench came in the late third quarter stretch with Westbrook on the bench that allowed the Rockets to go on a 12-3 run to end the quarter and gave Houston momentum heading into the fourth.

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That lineup of Victor Oladipo, Semaj Christon, Kyle Singler, Grant and Andre Roberson looked lost, as if no one wanted the basketball. Oladipo is in a terrible slump, and will have to climb out of it in these next two games if the Thunder hope to make any type of comeback in this series.

The bench units where Donovan likes to keep Oladipo on the floor as insurance is where he can find his groove, but so far the 24-year-old has been unable to in his first playoff series.

Donovan tried to tinker with the lineups by going smaller last night in that late third quarter stretch in an effort to get more spacing and versatility, but it failed spectacularly. Any time Harden isn't on the floor, Kanter should be in and force fed post touches. It's where he's most effective and can at least put some kind of footprint on this series in those brief stretches.

Oklahoma City will need all three of these adjustments to pan out, as well as performing the necessary prerequisite of containing Harden and his troupe of shooters as best they can.

Despite their outstanding defensive effort, the series may come down to if the Thunder can keep up with the Rockets on the scoreboard. That answer lies in how much Westbrook loosens his grip on the reins even for moments, in an effort to better involve Adams, McDermott, Oladipo and the rest of the roster.