Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks made a terrible coaching mistake in the Thunder’s game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers that allowed them to even the series 2-2.  

No, it wasn’t making the decision to not foul, down two with about five seconds separating the game clock and the shot clock, while out of timeouts.  

His math skills must need work since that’s the second time this post-season he’s opted for that strategy. It’s also the second time that the move didn’t cost him

The real mistake was allowing Clippers’ guard Darren Collison to remain on the floor to score 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers trio of guards (All-Star point guard Chris Paul, back-to-back Sixth Man of the Year winner Jamal Crawford and Collison) combined for 27 of the Clippers 38 points in the final quarter and willed the Clippers right back into the series.

Clippers’ headman Doc Rivers said they settled for the “ultra-small” lineup out of desperation to find a combination that worked.

“Obviously Jamal, [Collison] and that small lineup won the game for us, but that’s a lineup that I don’t know if we’ve ever used,” said Rivers. “We were just searching for the group tonight, and that group won the game for us.”

Los Angeles’ small-ball lineup is smaller than most because it sports two guards lucky to be listed at 6 feet and a 6’6” guard whose wiry frame isn’t best suited for defense. It was even smaller on Sunday with small forward Danny Granger playing the 4-spot and Griffin in with five fouls at the 5-spot.

No way should that lineup be able to remain on the floor without a cost.

The Thunder failed to make them pay and the Clippers avoided a 3-1 disaster going back to OKC

Down the stretch, Collison was allowed to remain on the floor without cost. Paul was allowed to guard MVP 6’9” forward Kevin Durant without cost. Blake Griffin, as the lone Clippers big man, was allowed to continue to patrol the paint with five fouls without cost.

In fairness to the Thunder, guard Russell Westbrook torched Collison in the fourth quarter, but it was mainly in transition with Westbrook winning the foot race to the rim.

The awkward matchups the Clippers implored down the stretch sent the Thunder half-court offense into a log jam.

“We could have done a better job of getting to our spots in the fourth quarter. Offensively, we kind of bogged down a little bit,” said Brooks of his offense down the stretch.

Durant posted up awkwardly in the high post with his back to the basket. His position was ripe for the double teams that cost him 3 turnovers in the fourth.

“When I catch the ball, they’re sending a double team. When they didn’t, I scored.  When they sent the double team, they did a good job of crowding me and making me get rid of the ball,” said Durant.

Rivers agreed, defiantly refusing to give his point guard any credit for Durant’s late game struggles.

The Thunder offense turned into Westbrook to the rim and pray that time expires.

Westbrook or Durant has to go to the lower block (not the high post) to post up in that situation and force Rivers into a decision. Keep getting bullied down low or remove Collison from the game?

If Durant is going to stay high, he needs to face up so he can see the double coming, but either way Brooks needs to use his offense to force Rivers’ hand.

The Clippers can’t afford to compromise spacing on offense by subtracting one of their guards at this point.

“When they were down, they played with a lot of desperation, and they were able to spread us out,” said Brooks about the trouble the small lineup caused his defense.

The spacing allowed Collison and Paul to assault the rim for layup after layup.

Solving the problem on offense will assist in helping the Thunder fourth quarter defense that gave up 38 points by jamming the Clippers’ offense.

The other option is to stay big with an Adams/Ibaka/Durant/Butler/Westbrook lineup and throw their unusual lineup into as many pick and rolls as humanly possible.

If not for a desperate Los Angeles run in the fourth with an unconventional lineup, OKC would have absolute control up 3-1. It was a one-game wrinkle that the Thunder have time to adjust to now. Game 4 revealed who has control of this series even if they didn’t come away with the victory.

They’ll maintain control as long as the Clippers’ small ball lineup is only allowed on the court at a pricy cost.