LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 31: Eric Gordon #10 of the Houston Rockets defends as Chris Paul ... [+]
On Wednesday evening, the Oklahoma City Thunder will matchup against the Houston Rockets in what will be the biggest game they have played all season. In fact, this could be their biggest game since Oklahoma City lost in the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
Since they lost in that conference finals, the Thunder have never won a playoff series, let alone get deep enough into one to play in a series-clinching game. They lost in the first round in either five or six games in each of these seasons since. This will he be just the fourth game 7 in Oklahoma City Thunder history, winning two of their three to this point.
Regardless of whether the Thunder win this series or not, it will still be considered a highly successful season. They have shattered all expectations in the regular season and the playoffs and have a bright future with a handful of veterans that have increased their trade value.
With that in mind, the Thunder are built for winning a big game like this. All season long, in the most important moments, they’ve played their absolute best. After the game 6 win, Chris Paul said it best.
"When it gets to clutch time, fourth quarter, some people are built for it, some people shy away from it.”
So far, through six games in this opening series, the Thunder are averaging 104.3 points per game to Houston’s 111.5 per contest. This statistic alone makes it pretty surprising that the series is tied at three games a piece. Houston has attempted 4.3 more field goals per game, which is something that Billy Donovan has talked about all series. He says that the Thunder need to play with more pace as well as attack the offensive glass in order generate more second chance points and shot attempts.
To their disadvantage, Oklahoma City is shooting 30.6 percent from deep — second lowest of any team in playoffs — compared to Houston’s 36.0 percent from the 3-point line. Additionally, Houston shoots 14.3 more 3’s per game.
Due to the Rockets shooting so many triples and not attacking the rim as frequently, the Thunder attempt 8.5 more free throws per game, which is a huge advantage. With that being said, Oklahoma City needs to capitalize more often on those opportunities, as they have only shot 77.6 percent from the line in the playoffs. This shouldn’t be a huge surprise based on the size advantage, but the Thunder have been the best rebounding team thus far in the playoffs, averaging 50.5 per game.
When it comes to other things that need to be improved upon, Oklahoma City is the worst team in the playoffs when it comes to assists and also has the second most turnovers of any playoff team. These issues have resulted in the Thunder being pretty bad on offense as a whole in this first round series, with the lowest offensive rating in the playoffs. This has shown true in their losses, which have been by an average of 20.7 points per game. In the games that the Thunder have won, it’s either taken overtime or winning down the stretch and holding the the Rockets to very few points relative to their average.
Taking everything into consideration that has shaped the series to this point, nothing really matters now. It’s a brand new game that will determine who advances and who goes home. Billy Donovan talked about what his messaging to the team will be heading into the final game of the series and how confident he is in his team.
“We were in an elimination game last night [Monday]. I feel like coming into Game 7... we’ve been in that situation already.”
Game 7 will truly come down to how Houston shoots from beyond the arc. If they shoot well from 3, Oklahoma City has nearly no shot. They simply don’t have the offensive firepower to win a high-scoring shootout game against the Rockets. However, if Houston’s 3-point shooting percentage is in the low 30’s, Oklahoma City will be in great shape. As they’ve done in many games this season and in the playoffs, the Houston Rockets will live or die by the 3.
The winner of game 7 will play the Los Angeles Lakers in the next round, who will have had nearly a full week of rest between their first and second round series. Not only is this the biggest game of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season, but also for the Houston Rockets as well. The Thunder have shown many times this series that they have what it takes to win this huge game.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholascrain/2020/09/02/the-oklahoma-city-thunder-are-ready-to-play-their-biggest-game-of-the-season/
2020-09-02 14:30:00Z
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