Thunder Lose First Round of NBA Playoffs, Takeaways From Season
The Oklahoma City Thunder lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Now after a season in which they overachieved, they look to improve the team in the offseason.
The Oklahoma City Thunder lost in Game 5 of the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Houston Rockets 105-99.
Game 5 stuck with the theme of what happened in the other games. The Thunder played well all four quarters, but then when the game was closing the team started to melt down.
Losing the 3-1 lead against the Golden State Warriors last year was the start of this identity the Thunder have that they don’t finish.
Russell Westbrook finished the game with 47 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. He almost got another triple-double and even with that amazing stat line they still were not able to pull out the win.
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Taj Gibson and Steven Adams finally stepped up in terms of rebounding with eight and nine respectively and the Thunder won the rebounding battle, but the Rockets were just too much.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder even made more three-pointers than the Rockets. The Thunder made 10 threes to only six for the Rockets … and the Rockets still won.
The Thunder did everything they had to do and they still did not pull out the win. The Rockets were just the better team.
Going forward the Thunder know they have Westbrook, which means that they will always be able to win games.
After the season that Westbrook had he will be under consideration for the MVP award.
After the season he had he deserves the award. He led the NBA in scoring and was the first player to average a triple-double since Oscar Robertson.
He is also leading the NBA in scoring for the playoffs with 37.4 points. Even though he only got to play in the first round, he might still be able to keep that ranking.
Westbrook is the first player since Karl Malone in 1989-90 to average 30 points and 10 rebounds in a season. The way he rebounds is better than the big men on his team.
He led the team in rebounding from the point guard position and helped the team out in every stat. He was the most epic do-it-all player this season.
Being able to lead the roster that he had to the NBA playoffs was a great accomplishment and should help him get his first MVP award.
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Nobody had as good a season as Westbrook did.
Westbrook wasn’t the only bright light in the season, though.
The Thunder were able to get the players on this team playoff experience and that will help develop their players.
They did not get swept. They won a game, which helps the confidence of players such as Victor Oladipo and Alex Abrines, who had never been in an NBA playoff game prior to this year.
Andre Roberson, who is known for his defense, was able to show flashes of an offensive game. He was able to make open threes and slash to the basket and get layups.
When Kevin Durant was there, Roberson mainly focused on defense, but it was good to see that he was able to put the ball through the net when asked to.
During the offseason, every player will have to take it upon themselves to get better and get better offensive games.
Westbrook is not exempt, either, because if he is able to become a three-point shooter like Harden, that will take his team to another level.
If Oladipo steps up and realizes his potential, the Thunder could have a backcourt like the Washington Wizards. That will give teams a lot more to worry about other than Westbrook.
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Moves will definitely be made in the offseason to improve the offense, but every player can do their part to take the team to the next level.