Andrew Wiggins’ buzzer-beater keeps the OKC Thunder struggling

The OKC Thunder wanted to win their third game of the 2017-18 season, but defensive lapses, an inability to hit 3-point shots and Andrew Wiggins’ buzzer-beater hurt them yet again.

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Utah Jazz 96-87 on Saturday and were hoping they’d be able to right their wrongs against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.

Carmelo Anthony looked like he had hit the game-winning shot when he made a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a 113-112 lead, but then Andrew Wiggins crushed the OKC Thunder’s hopes. The Thunder lost 115-113. A Karl-Anthony Towns screen was just what the doctor ordered for Wiggins to be free for the prayer.

"”Wig is amazing,” Towns told NBA.com. “He’s been hitting that shot, weirdly enough, the whole offseason in practice. The one thing that came through my mind if I didn’t catch it was to set a screen for somebody and just try to get someone one. I’m glad Wig was able to capitalize on it. We were able to escape with a win, especially with me not playing as well as I like to.”"

Towns was able to do just what he thought and Wiggins was able to hit the shot that dropped the Thunder to 1-2. The loss to the Jazz featured the same problems as this game: inconsistent defense and bad 3-point shooting. Paul George is part of the Thunder’s Big Three, and he had something to say after the Jazz loss.

Via NBA.com:

"”It’s different when you’re accustomed to being a rhythm guy, having to create offense off the bounce and get yourself in a rhythm off the dribble,” George said. ”Whereas the other night I was getting a lot of catch and shoots, so that rhythm is going to be a little different now. So just getting prepared for that, all the open opportunities that I’ll have and now knowing how teams are going to play and adjust to Russ.”"

The stats tell it all. In the game against the Jazz, the Thunder made 11 3-pointers. In the game against the Timberwolves, the Thunder made 11 3-pointers again. But in both games, they attempted 33 and 31 threes, respectively. When 3-pointers or any shots are not falling, it’s hard to get enough points to win.

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The Thunder are getting known for using defense to create offense, but they are in fact using their offense to create offense for the other team. If the shots don’t fall then it is hard to get into a rhythm, which puts you into a hole because you can’t keep up with the other team. Playing your way out of the hole gets tiring and is hard to do.

How do the Thunder avoid this, you ask? There are some solutions. Carmelo Anthony has been a beast on the mid-range wing with his back to the basket. Time and time again Anthony has been able to get baskets by either backing down the opponent or taking the turn-around and face-up shots. Anthony will have to stop shooting contested threes and get on the block.

The Thunder will have to go to this when they see they are losing their advantage. Also, as Paul George mentioned, he is not playing how he is used to. George is more used to putting the ball on the floor and creating shots but he is a catch-and-shoot player in OKC. The Thunder will have to give more freedom for George to create his own shot.

Letting George play off of screens with the ball in his hands and isolation plays will help George get into that rhythm he will need to be the MVP-caliber player he wants to be.

Westbrook has been with the Thunder all these years, so he is acclimated to the system already. He knows when to turn it up and when to get his since he has so much experience with the team.

On defense, the Thunder have been giving up basket after basket. They have stretches where they force turnovers and get points off those turnovers, but those come in desperate times when they are down. They forced 18 turnovers that led to 23 Thunder points. Westbrook and George talked about the defense they played in the last five minutes that needs to happen for the whole game.

Via Thunder website:

"“The urgency, that’s who we need to be that last five minutes. That’s the Thunder team we need to be,” George said. “Regardless of if shots are falling or not, defensively we were tied together and had energy. It was causing our offense to play at that level as well.”“We see some sparks and some good things that we know we can do at a high level. We just have to do it for 48 minutes,” Westbrook concluded."

To do this, the Thunder will need to find the best players on the other team and make sure they take them completely out of the game to start the game. In the game against the Timberwolves, Wiggins and Towns both had 27 points and both players affected the end of the game.

In the game against the Jazz, the Jazz had 40 points in the paint and Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Jazz are not a team with superstars, but they are an NBA team and if they are being forced to make layups, they will make them.

To solve this, the Thunder will have to stress defensive rotations to eliminate wide open shots and to pack the paint. Help defense will be the Thunder’s best friend going forward.

The play of the Big Three has not been bad. They will need to make slight adjustments that make the pieces that they have work better than they already are.

Next: Ranking all 30 starting NBA shooting guards for 2017-18

Extra Thoughts

Patrick Patterson hasn’t scored in the past two games. The Thunder will need make plays for Patterson to get him involved in the offense.