Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 takeaways from crushing Game 4 loss vs. Blazers

The Oklahoma City Thunder were not able to get the second game of their two-game homestand in the 2019 NBA Playoffs and now they have to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the first round.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost a 3-1 lead before. That was during the 2016 NBA Playoffs, when they faced the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. The OKC Thunder had Kevin Durant at the time, and it was thought that the series was over.

The Warriors came all the way back and ended up being the team that represented the West in the Finals. In this series, the Thunder are the ones down 3-1, and they will need a comeback like that to continue their postseason.

After Game 2, Russell Westbrook promised to be better the next game. He did just that and dropped 33 points. In Game 4 though, Westbrook reverted back to inefficiency, shooting 5-for-21 and scoring just 14 points. A team with limited offensive options like the Thunder needs its star players to play well every night. Only Paul George was able to have a good scoring night with 32 points.

Damian Lillard started out flat, but he ended up with 24 points while CJ McCollum finished with 27. They have been unstoppable all series and Sunday night was no different.

Bearing all that in mind, here are the three takeaways from Game 4.