Game 2 Preview: Thunder (0-1) vs Blazers (1-0)
Time: 9:30 PM CST
TV: TNT & FSOK
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s second half rally fell short in Game 1 on Sunday, as the Trail Blazers took a 104-99 victory at the Moda Center in Portland. Though the Thunder trailed by 19 in the first quarter, and shot just 15% from three for the game, they made their charge late — but ended up in an 0-1 series hole when they failed to complete the comeback.
The Thunder will look to even the score tonight in Game 2, with a chance to steal home court advantage before the series shifts to Oklahoma City. That will require a better start, more efficient shooting, and a bounce back game for Paul George. Vegas likes the Blazers’ odds of moving to 2-0, as they are currently 1.5-point home favorites according to Odds Shark.
Probable Starters
Injury Report
Andre Roberson: Out — Knee
Jusuf Nurkic: Out — Leg
Stats
Regular Season Stats:
| Team | EFG | FTA% | TO% | OREB% | OP EFG | OP FTA | OP TO | OP OREB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKC | 51.4 | 0.266 | 13.4 | 29.8 | 52.3 | 0.271 | 16.0 | 26.2 |
| POR | 52.8 | 0.258 | 13.7 | 30.8 | 51.6 | 0.253 | 12.3 | 26.1 |
| Team | EFG | FTA% | TO% | OREB% | OP EFG | OP FTA | OP TO | OP OREB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKC | 51.4 | 0.266 | 13.4 | 29.8 | 52.3 | 0.271 | 16.0 | 26.2 |
| POR | 52.8 | 0.258 | 13.7 | 30.8 | 51.6 | 0.253 | 12.3 | 26.1 |
What to Watch For
PG’s Shoulder. The Thunder’s chances in this series are directly tied to the health of George’s shoulder — which is a tad scary considering he struggled in Game 1, going 8-of-24 from the field and 4-of-15 from three-point range. However, George is not on the injury report, and he says he’s “pain free.” If that’s to be believed, he should be in line for a bounce back game. He averaged 38 PPG against Portland in the regular season and the Thunder went 4-0.
Better Start. This Thunder team is notorious for slow starts, but Game 1 was a completely different beast — the Blazers hit 7-of-10 from long range, dropped 39 points, and built a 19-point lead in the first quarter. Though OKC fought back and pulled within one late, they simply must have a cleaner start tonight in Portland. Stumbling off the block again is a quick way to go down 0-2.
Somebody Make Something. Though OKC ultimately pulled within one in the fourth quarter, the Game 1 comeback was built on defense — allll defense — as the Thunder shot 5-of-33 (15%) from three-point range on the evening. Even as they outscored Portland over the final three quarters, they did so on 41.8% shooting. Pretty much everyone outside of Steven Adams and Russell Westbrook couldn’t buy a bucket, so the shooting is pretty much a team-wide thing.
Kanter PnR. According to Brett Dawson of The Athletic, the Thunder only attacked Enes Kanter in the pick-n-roll nine times in Game 1 — and he ended up dropping 20 & 18 and a team-high +15 in 34 minutes. In order to avoid his inevitable accumulation of stats, OKC needs to make him more of a liability on the defensive end. Steven Adams was good on Sunday, but an even bigger night would spell good things for the Thunder.
Westbrook in Control: Even with PG struggling on Sunday, Westbrook was in pass-first mode — never trying to shoot the Thunder back into it when they got down big early. As per usual, OKC benefits from his play most when he is finding teammates and keeping things moving. Hopefully the rest of the guys knock down open looks tonight and keep Russ where he’s best.
