Oklahoma City Thunder: 5 Keys To Closing Out The Series

4. Smart Rotations

Head coach Billy Donovan has made some head-scratching decisions over the course of the regular season and the playoffs, but give him credit: He hasn’t been afraid to make adjustments, and his most recent ones are paying off against a 67-win juggernaut.

The first smart adjustment has been feeding shooting guard minutes to Dion Waiters over starter Andre Roberson. Though Roberson is a highly underrated defender, his ridiculous comments about “asserting his will” on Kawhi Leonard were quickly revealed as a farce. With Roberson unable to stop Kawhi and not providing any sort of scoring or perimeter threat on the other end, Donovan has wisely funneled his minutes into Waiters.

If you hadn’t been watching the games, you’d think this was a joke. Wasn’t Waiters the guy who got away with a push-off on an inbounds pass to close out Game 2? Yes, but between his defensive effort against Leonard and the efficient scoring he’s provided on the other end, Waiters has been superb for OKC in the playoffs so far.

Another Donovan adjustment that was much-needed (and a tad more obvious) was re-inserting Randy Foye into the rotation ahead of rookie Cameron Payne. Payne has a bright future, and it was unfortunate to see him lose so many minutes to Foye during the regular season, but OKC’s trade deadline acquisition is finally making up for his miserable shooting during the regular season.

Against a seasoned team like the Spurs, having a steady presence who can run the offense and knock down open shots is a must. Payne was clearly out of his element in the first three games, tallying three turnovers in 34 minutes of action while going 3-for-16 from the field.

Donovan turned to Foye as the team’s backup point guard out of desperation in Game 4, and he delivered with five points on 2-of-3 shooting in just nine minutes. Russell Westbrook can’t afford to sit for long, but Foye has not committed a single turnover in the two games he’s played in this series.

Finally, the most surprising development: Serge Ibaka losing fourth quarter minutes to Steven Adams and Enes Kanter. None of this would be possible without Adams absolutely smothering Duncan or Kanter actually trying on defense, but Ibaka has now played fewer than 30 minutes in OKC’s last two wins.

With Kanter attacking the offensive glass and Adams being a threat on both ends of the floor, the Thunder have gone with a different closing lineup — and it’s worked. It’s not even about Ibaka, really, since he’s shooting 12-for-21 from three-point range in this series and has played a significant role in LaMarcus Aldridge’s recent struggles.

But it takes guts to ride with Kanter on Aldridge in do-or-die late-game situations, and so far, Donovan’s gambles have paid off. For the Thunder to pull off the upset with a Game 6 victory, Donovan has to stick with what’s worked…but he also has to be ready to make new adjustments if the need arises.

Next: No. 3