Oklahoma City Makes It Easy For The Defense Late
About a week ago, I took a look at the Durant/Westbrook pick and pop the Thunder were running late in games. In my opinion, that play might be one of the toughest sets to stop in the NBA because it is basically a lose-lose situation for the defense. However, the Thunder seem to only run this play late when they want to get a two point bucket, rarely using the option of Durant popping out for a jumper.
So when Eric Gordon knocked down a three point shot with 43.2 seconds left, the Clippers basically took away the Thunder’s most dangerous play. This put the Thunder in a situation where they have really struggled in the past, working Durant off of the basketball, looking for a catch and shoot opportunity. When the Thunder aren’t isolating Durant and they try to work him off of the basketball, things are so basic that it is so simple to defend. The result is Durant always making the catch going away from the basket a good four or five feet behind the three point line. We saw a perfect example of this last night:
As soon as the ball goes to Thabo Sefolosha, the trigger man, Russell Westbrook splits Durant and Kendrick Perkins and gets the basketball at the top of the key.
