OKC Thunder: There’s No Need To Panic
The Dallas Mavericks shocked the OKC Thunder in Game 2 Monday night, but there’s no need to panic, Thunder fans.
The first round of the NBA playoffs have been known as one of the most predictable set of postseason games in professional sports. So when a higher seed loses one game to a lower seed, the overreactions over Twitter and other social media sites come full blast.
This is exactly what happened when the OKC Thunder lost to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series 85-84 on Monday night.
Prior to tipoff, the game gained massive tension as Charlie Villanueva interrupted Russell Westbrook and Cameron Payne‘s pregame handshake and dance ritual. Westbrook reacted by shoving Villanueva, which has since become a popular topic of conversation. However, citing the incident as a reason why the Thunder lost this game is just flat out ignorance.
The reason the Thunder lost this game was because they put together one of the worst shooting performances NBA fans have seen in the playoffs. Superstar Kevin Durant finished 7-for-33 from the field. His 26 misses are the most he’s had in his NBA career, and probably his entire life for that matter, and tied an NBA playoff record.
Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the Oklahoma City Thunder
As a team, the Thunder shot a putrid 33.7 percent from the field and 21.9 percent from three-point land.
On top of their offensive struggles, Mavericks point guard Raymond Felton gave the Thunder major issues on the defensive end of the floor. Felton finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Although he didn’t have a ton of assists, he still controlled the game and dictated momentum by making clutch plays that helped the Mavericks ultimately come away with this game.
All in all, it was pretty much the perfect storm for the Thunder. They had one of the worst shooting nights since becoming a franchise, while Felton, Dirk Nowitzki and Salah Mejri combined for 50 of Dallas’ 85 points.
Considering all of the negatives against the Thunder, they still had a chance to win with the clock ticking down on a fast break as Westbrook deferred to Durant, who missed the layup. Steven Adams was the trailing man who finished Durant’s miss, but after review, the refs determined he was a few milliseconds too late.
With the series tied 1-1 heading back to Dallas, there is still no need for the Thunder to panic. From Monday’s performance, the only way to go is up. One reason is because they will likely not see the ball miss its target as much as they did in Game 2.
Another reason is because of their leaders Durant and Westbrook will approach the rest of these games by trying to bounce back from the loss.
More hoops habit: Every NBA Franchise's Mount Rushmore
Felton is unlikely to have a game like he did Monday night, and even if he did, the Thunder would still come out on top if they were to shoot even slightly better than in Game 2. In fact, seeing the Thunder take the next three games to end the series and prepare for the potential matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals would not be shocking in the least.