I’M a die-hard Oklahoma City Thunder fan and therefore agonizingly watched my team break down mentally, amid the onslaught of threes rained down by, in my opinion, the best shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) right now, Klay Thompson. He lit up the Thunder for 41 points, 11 three-point shots, to break a finals record. He was 11-for-18 from downtown.
I thought the Thunder committed a lot of mental mistakes and the ball wasn’t moving the way it did in Games Three and Four, when they massacred the champs in both games. There wasn’t a lot of ball and player movement. It was “give the ball to either Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook and get out of the way.” I thought the Warriors started fighting tooth and nail for every rebound in Game Five—all basketball aficionados know that, aside from defense, rebounds win championships.
The Thunder transition defense left a lot to be desired because Thompson got most of his attempts off the fast break, where the defending team hasn’t much of a chance to set up its defense. Did the Thunder peak too early in this series? Andrew Bogut made his presence felt in Game Five with 15 points and 14 boards, and in Game Six earlier he did his job on the defensive end by blocking shots and altering a few more. He is the Warriors’ defensive anchor.
Iguodala defended Durant well, but I thought it was more of Durant forcing his shots, being tentative on offense and not getting his teammates involved—and the same goes for Westbrook. The Thunder have to go back to what got them a 3-1 lead, which was ball movement, dominate the rebounding and using their length and athleticism to disrupt the champs.
The best two words in the English language are Game Seven. If the Thunder lose, then expect to see the last of Durant in a Thunder uniform. The Warriors are on the precipice of being only the 10th team in league history to come back from a 1-3 deficit. In my opinion, in any sport in any league, it is always tough to dethrone the defending champion.
The Thunder return to Oracle Arena, arguably the loudest arena in the NBA and the most difficult place to get a win. The odds are stacked against the Thunder to win in the most hostile environment in the league. They need to do a better job of marking and covering Klay Thompson. They also need to do a better job of rebounding the basketball and taking care of the ball.
They need to establish Enes Kanter in the low post. Roberson has to move better without the ball.
It is a win or go home situation for both teams on Tuesday. The Warriors have shown that they are the champions until somebody knocks them off.