The Oklahoma City Thunder were so close to beating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals last season, but they couldn’t make the extra plays they needed to make.
What Went Wrong Last Season?
On a larger level, not a lot went wrong for the Thunder, but this is an organization which expects to win championships and feels the need to do so after losing the 2012 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat and having the 2013 season shortened by an injury to Russell Westbrook during the playoffs.
The 2014 season was supposed to be the season in which Oklahoma City learned from its mistakes, but a few pieces of bad luck, combined with some lingering problems, hurt the Thunder enough to keep them from returning to the Finals.
The biggest injection of bad luck into the Thunder’s bloodstream was the two-game injury to Serge Ibaka at the start of the West Finals against the Spurs. Ibaka missed the first two games, and with him not in the lineup to protect the rim, Oklahoma City’s defense was extremely vulnerable in the face of San Antonio’s ball movement and cutting. Ibaka returned to the lineup in Game 3 and helped the Thunder race back to tie the series at 2-2, but San Antonio was able to make key adjustments in Game 5, enabling the Spurs to take the lead in the series, 3-2. In Game 6, Oklahoma City learned at halftime that San Antonio point guard Tony Parker was not going to play the second half due to an injury. The Thunder should have been able to win that game at home, especially since San Antonio had lost each of its previous five road playoff games on Oklahoma City’s home court. Yet, the Thunder’s offense stalled in the second half. Kevin Durant was not in rhythm, and Russell Westbrook was not able to get to the rim as often as he would have liked.
The Spurs were able to run good halfcourt plays with Boris Diaw and Manu Ginobili being the central orchestrators of the action. Oklahoma City kept pace with the Spurs, but it could never truly outpace the Spurs. San Antonio made a few defensive plays near the rim in the final minutes to pull out the win and leave the Thunder heartbroken.
What hurt Oklahoma City? The lack of a deep bench, for one thing. This was too much a Durant-and-Westbrook show without enough help from others. The Thunder also didn’t get good coaching from Scott Brooks, who continues to seem like the man that’s holding the franchise back.
Offseason Changes
The Thunder don’t need to make huge changes, and they didn’t in the offseason. Anthony Morrow is in to replace Caron Butler, who has moved on. Mitch McGary was drafted out of the University of Michigan. Richard Solomon, Talib Zanna, and Grant Jerrett are also first-year players. Sebastian Telfair and Lance Thomas are veterans coming over to provide some reinforcements. Morrow is the main piece of those mentioned who could realistically contribute this season. McGary is the player this team hopes will blossom in the future.
Projected Finish
The Thunder tinkered with their roster, which is fine. Having Scott Brooks as the head coach, though, might prevent this team from leapfrogging San Antonio in what should be a very close West race.
Pick: 2nd In The Western Conference
