Four. That’s the most important number from the Thunder’s game one 122-105 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
On a night, Clippers’ point guard Chris Paul steam rolled the Thunder, going 8-9 on 3-point attempts. The record is 7-7 for highest number of attempts without a miss and 9 for total made in a single playoff game.
On a night, Paul finished with 32 points and 10 assists and teammate Blake Griffin finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
On a night, the Thunder shot 9-28 for 32.1 percent from distance.
Still, the most important number is four.
That’s the number of bench points scored by the Thunder before the fourth quarter began and both teams’ benches came in because the game had long been decided.
The difference in bench play will prove to be the hardest fix from game one.
Paul won’t shoot like that again. He said it himself.
“This one will definitely go down in the history books for me. Don’t count on it for game two,” said Paul.
The poor shooting can be fixed with better spacing and simply hitting shots.
“Westbrook got a bunch of pull-ups that we didn’t like honestly,” said Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. “I thought Matt and everybody did a good job [guarding Durant]. He missed some shots that Durant normally makes, but the key was I thought they were all hard shots.”
The defense can adjust their rotations and be crisper, making it harder for the Clippers offense to function. The Clippers shot over 50 percent from the field and the 3-point line while committing only 4 turnovers.
“[The key is] just sticking to what we’ve been doing all year; not letting guys run free through our paint, not letting guys just stare down shots and roll to the rim and get dunks,” said Durant on how to make the Clippers feel the Thunder defense.
What’ll be harder to figure out is where the scoring is going to come from when both teams dip into their bench. Especially considering, Thunder guard Caron Butler, who provided a scoring punch upon being inserted into the starting lineup against Memphis, came off the bench in game one.
Still, the lone Thunder player who managed to get himself in the scoring column during actual meaningful minutes was big man Nick Collison.
The lack of flexibility of the Thunder bench continues to be an issue. Outside of guard Reggie Jackson, the bench has no players who can contribute on offense and defense at the same time.
Counting on Jackson is rough since he continues to play up and down during the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Clippers sport versatility with their bench. Guard Jamal Crawford isn’t the best defender but he scores on an elite level. He’s what you’d hope Jackson could become.
Clippers’ backups Darren Collison, Glen Davis and Danny Granger aren’t world beaters, but they can defend their position and score a bit or at least hit the open jumper if their number is called.
The four Clippers combined for 20 points before the final period began.
The most telling part of the game was the start of the second quarter. Durant, Westbrook, Paul and Griffin all sat down with the Clippers up 14 points.
The Clippers bench and Thunder bench dueled to a tie.
It would have been a win for the Thunder except Durant and Westbrook came back while Paul and Griffin continued resting. The lead jumped to 19 before Paul and Griffin ever touched the court in the second quarter.
The lead extended with the guy who was having a career night shooting on the bench. That sums up game one perfectly.
Jackson and Butler will play better.
Maybe, the Thunder even insert guard Jeremy Lamb or forward Perry Jones. They each scored 8 points in the fourth quarter albeit against the Clipper bench in garbage time.
Then again, scoring against the Clipper bench is exactly what they need to fix.
“Our bench was amazing. That’s what has made our team so special all year,” said Paul.
The Thunder need to find some amazing and special or the series might be shorter than anyone planned.
