Thunder journal: OKC professes issues are correctable after loss to Heat

Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he doesn’t worry about players unable to suit up, that he’s not worried about his team – which has played more like a lottery-bound squad than one gunning for the playoffs since the All-Star break.

Donovan said he’s not worried about confidence.

“I think the guys’ confidences are pretty high because they know there’s things they can control and do better,” Donovan said after the Thunder’s 116-107 loss to Miami on Monday, which dropped OKC to 5-8 since the All-Star break and to No. 6 in the Western Conference.

It’s harder to be confident without key players. It’s hard to control the outcome of the game without consistent focus and effort until the game is out of reach.

Russell Westbrook was suspended Monday due to an accumulation of 16 technical fouls. Nerlens Noel was a late scratch with what the Thunder categorized as a left quad contusion.

That didn’t excuse the Thunder giving up 60 points in the paint to the Heat, including 44 in the first three quarters. The Heat scored 10 of its first eight points in the paint to start the second half and it didn’t improve when Steven Adams went to the bench with five fouls.

When the Thunder finally showed urgency in the final three minutes to get stops, the Heat still found holes in the leaky defense, scoring on a putback dunk and an alley-oop on consecutive possessions. That was after the Thunder gave each other numerous confused glances in pick-and-roll defense, the Heat’s rolling big man often receiving bounce passes with no resistance to the rim.

Adams said the Thunder needed better awareness on cuts to the basket early, and pick-and-roll defense late.

“Just not disciplined stuff,” Adams said. “That’s why they were getting a bunch of paint touches. A couple of miscommunications.”

Adams said the issues are correctible in the Thunder’s final 11 games before the playoffs. He explained Monday’s problem as so: If the power forward goes up to screen, the Thunder wants to switch defenders. If the screener slips and doesn’t screen in pick-and-roll, there’s no need for a switch.

The Thunder was pre-switching. The issue was similar at times against Golden State on Saturday, only the Warriors were hitting the Thunder with passes through tiny windows in the air instead of gaping windows on bounce passes.

“They’ll hit that pass, get downhill, and it’s pretty much (expletive) from there,” Adams said.

“It’s that and small things. The small things lead to layups and paint points. We’ve got to clean them up. It’s not like we’ve got no chance to clean it up. It’s fixable.”

Zoned out

The first time the Thunder played the Heat’s zone defense, Paul George gashed Miami for 10 3-pointers and Westbrook sliced the defense open with penetrating drives to free up shooters.

On Monday, Jerami Grant was a bright spot with a career-high 27 points, an efficient attack point at the center of the Heat’s zone. But the Thunder was turnover-prone and without Westbrook couldn’t get out on the fast break.

George and Dennis Schroder combined for 10 of the Thunder’s 19 turnovers, and the Thunder was outscored 18-7 in fast break points.

Donovan didn’t think the Thunder was laboring against the Heat’s zone, but was undone by the turnovers.

“I actually thought we did a nice job against the zone,” Donovan said. “When the ball gets to the middle of the defense, you’ve got to make the next pass. I thought we tried to move the ball against it.”

The Thunder started promisingly, shooting out to a 15-2 lead via patience and ball movement. Those traits deteriorated as quickly as the defense.