Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 takeaways from Game 2 rout vs. Blazers

1. Thunder must stop CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard

The Thunder have two problems in CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard. McCollum keeps carving them up and Lillard keeps shooting deep 3s over the top of the defense and connecting.

The Thunder have been playing Paul George on McCollum and that may need to change so PG-13 can focus on just offense, which is what the Thunder need right now. Terrance Ferguson would be the player to put on McCollum.

George has the shoulder injury to deal with too, so taking some pressure off him on defense would be much-needed help for the star wing.

The Westbrook and Lillard matchup is the matchup to go to, and it cannot continue to swing so heavily in Dame’s favor. OKC has to pay more attention to Lillard and should cover him the full way up the court.

The OKC Thunder have two games to turn this series around and save their season. They’ve won three playoff games dating back to 2017. They will have to lock McCollum and Lillard up in these next two games if they want to bring the series back to Portland tied 2-2.