The Thunder came into this Game 4 knowing they needed to win to tie the series. OKC came out firing on all cylinders trying to make sure they got everyone involved. Russell Westbrook was able to get his mid-range going in that first half and was getting to his spots with ease. The Trail Blazers were giving Westbrook open shots and he was taking advantage of it when the moment came. One thing that Westbrook was able to do was find his teammates in their spots and his energy never changed throughout the night. Russell Westbrook finished with 14 points, 7 assists, and 9 rebounds on the night. Westbrook and George were both in early foul trouble and were able to battle through the adversity in the first half as the game was still close. The Thunder as a whole was able to hold Damian Lillard to 7 points as he missed a lot of shots with a hand in his face. The two role players that were able to keep both teams in the mix while the stars weren’t able to get into a rhythm was Aminu for Portland (19 pts) and Schröder (17 pts) for Oklahoma City. Dennis was able to give the Thunder a lift in the scoring department while Westbrook and George were in foul trouble. Schröder has proved that he can score in the pick and roll when he gets the switch. Dennis was 50% from the field and was able to be a pest on defense as well because he was able to slow Hood and Turner when guarding them.
The second half CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard combined for 32 points. Both of them were able to hit some tough shots tonight and were able to push the pace of the game the way they wanted for Portland. It’s not a hidden secret that both Dame and Lillard are big-time shot makers but to do it on the road in a loud environment it was impressive. Lillard was able to take over in the game as he was getting to hit spots on switches and hit some big shots when given any space. Lillard finished the game with 24 points and most of the game the Trail Blazers had the lead while he was on the bench getting rest. Tonight it was all about CJ McCollum as he countered every Thunder run with a big 3 pointer or tough floater. CJ seemed unstoppable off the dribble as he was able to get to his spots and take his time waiting for the matchup he wanted on switches. Both Dame and CJ have shown a lot of maturity in this series as they have been able to play their type of game with fast pace and shooting. The NBA has caught up to their game as now it’s about the 3’s and the chip on both their shoulders are extremely big after being doubted and disrespected in the media.
The bright spot for this game was the fact that Paul George was able to get his offense going in the right direction. Paul finished the game with 32 points and added 10 rebounds with that as well. It’s obvious that Paul George can score on anyone on Portland and heading into Game 5 in Portland he will need to continue this to get some momentum to try to bring it back to OKC. Paul has been very impressive in the transition and also in the 3 point shooting. The Thunder need to get energy from Westbrook and feed off of George’s offensive game in Portland. George has to make it a mission to defend CJ or Damian a little bit more than the usual because they’re not backing down but they’re hitting some tough shots overall. The Thunder have been down 3-1 six times and have been able to come back and win one of the series back in 2014 against Memphis. The Thunder will need to take this one game at a time if they want to come back to OKC for Game 6. Anything is POSSIBLE especially in the NBA and when you have two MVP caliber players on the team like OKC have in Westbrook and George.
Recent Comments