National Basketball Association

Three reasons for the Thunder's three-game losing streak

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:09 p.m. ET

Fansided, Tony Heim/FanSided via Thunderous Intentions

Jan 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after making a three point basket against the Houston Rockets in the first quarter at Toyota Center. Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

The last three games haven’t been fun for the OKC Thunder, but why exactly? I have a few ideas…

A week ago things were looking good for the Thunder. Oklahoma City was 6-2 in their last eight games, Victor Oladipo had just come back, Russell Westbrook was playing out of his mind.

But ever since the ball dropped in New York City the basketball stopped moving in Oklahoma City. Of all the things that gets noted over these next three slides, that’s the most important item.

As of now the Thunder sit at 21-16, good for seventh in the Western Conference. There’s no need to worry (just yet) about missing the playoffs considering how ugly the race is for the eighth seed. But at the same time, their play has been less than spectacular.

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When Oladipo came back, they were supposed to get better not worse. Now I’m not blaming Oladipo for this at all, but this little losing streak has opened my eyes to a few things about his play as well.

Maybe I should stop hinting at the knowledge that is about to be dropped…Let’s just get this bad boy started.

Dec 31, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo (5) handles the ball against LA Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

3. Victor Oladipo doesn’t have a big enough role in the offense

When Oladipo was out the Thunder had to rely on each other (i.e. Russell Westbrook) to create offense. We saw more emphasis on proper spacing, running more pick & rolls and less isolation plays. Why? Because without Oladipo, they literally had nobody besides Russ to create for others.

Now that he’s back, the Thunder have reverted to the iso-ball that characterized them at the beginning of the season. Even more discerning is the way they are using an EXTREMELY talented Oladipo. And this goes both when he is with the starters AND the bench unit.

What is he supposed to do in that situation? Everybody on the court is standing around. Well besides Alex Abrines, who looks more confused than a 5-year old being taught multiplication. More importantly, nobody on the court can create a shot for themselves!! How is Oladipo supposed to do anything but shoot a contested three if four defenders are clogging the paint and nobody is setting a screen for him?

Then there’s this play, where he just stands in the corner the entire possession.

That’s something Abrines should be doing, not the second most talented offensive player in Oklahoma City. The thing is the Thunder have employed plays with Oladipo these past few games that work. They just don’t do it enough. Like why haven’t we seen this Russ/Dipo/Steven Adams three-man game more?

I don’t care about the result of the shot. I care that Billy Donovan has sets in his repertoire that work, and they aren’t being utilized.

Oladipo is the only other player on the roster who can break his man down and get to the rim on the Thunder. But by virtually giving Russ free reign every possession, it limits what OKC can do offensively. Dipo needs to step up and realize he can be the difference between a 4-seed and a 7-seed; that starts with putting him in more opportunities.

2. The Thunder have too many traditional big men

When Sam Presti traded for Joffrey Lauvergne I was skeptical. On one hand, the Thunder are loaded with young talent and don’t necessarily have any space to bring more prospects (they gave up two second-rounders in the deal). On the other hand Lauvergne was the fifth big man who would justify receiving minutes.

Dec 23, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) drives to the basket past Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jerami Grant (9) and center Steven Adams (12) during the second half at TD Garden. Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Now the Thunder are down to four bigs after trading Ersan Ilyasova (and another first rounder) for Jerami Grant. The strange thing, however, is that Grant is a “big.” No, not in the traditional sense. But in this day and age he’s perfectly suited to play the four. And that realization has virtually booted King Joffrey from the rotation.

Oklahoma City has had trouble these last three games specifically because of the style of play of their opponents. Jabari Parker, Marvin Williams and Ryan Anderson all lined up against Domantas Sabonis at tipoff; all three guys have played small forward at some point in their NBA career. That’s not the greatest matchup for OKC considering some question whether or not Sabonis is a power forward or center.

All three guys were able to stretch out to the perimeter where OKC’s rookie is still visibly uncomfortable. Watch him try and defend Parker on this play; he has no idea what to do.

But once Donovan realizes Sabonis isn’t ready to play stretch four’s just yet, he brings in Enes Kanter. It makes sense: Kanter is one of the best backup bigs in the league. But the same problem arises on the defensive end, this time because Steven Adams (A CENTER) is forced to take Parker because Kanter is sooooooooooooooooo slow.

Adams has no chance guarding Parker. Kanter has even less of a chance. The only solution to the problem is Grant, but he’s still learning the Oklahoma City system. He’s also not offensively skilled enough to garner starter’s minutes.

So what do the Thunder do? I say ride Jerami Grant more and more and more. It is impossible to win in this league without an athletic four. That’s just the direction the league is going. They are already sacrificing by trying to develop Sabonis; the thing is they already have big men like Sabonis. They have nobody like Grant, so he should be Focal Point #1 in OKC.

1. All ball movement has ceased

Of all things, this is the biggest problem. The Thunder have been okay all season with Oladipo acting more as a shooter than a secondary playmaker. They have been fine with Sabonis starting every game. But they have been downright awful when Westbrook doesn’t record 10 assists and the team averages less than 20 assists.

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That’s right, in the last three game Russ hasn’t recorded more than eight assists. And in that game he shot 10-31 from the field. In fact, Westbrook has taken at least 28 shots in all three games. When he does that this season the Thunder are 3-6. And two of those wins came in the first four games of the season.

I don’t completely blame Westbrook for this (he deserves some of it); no this has to be on Coach Donovan and his staff. When the Thunder were playing without Oladipo, sure Westbrook was playing like a cyborg, but the rest of the players were stepping up too.

Abrines and Sabonis both had career highs during the span. Westbrook was using Kanter/Adams double-screens, Andre Roberson was back cutting like a maniac. Heck even Semaj Christon looked comfortable in the offense.

But then they went back to this.

Why are they settling for shots like this? The Thunder have weapons, they have athletes, but it all goes to waste when they aren’t being used. There’s a reason why you play with five people at a time. Oklahoma City finished with 15 assists last night; that can’t happen against Denver on Saturday.

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