Quarter by Quarter observations

First Quarter

 The Thunder can't even hit iron right now. Krstic has at least two misses that didn't even hit the rim, Westbrook has two that didn't even graze the rim and Orlando is up 11. And these aren't even contested shots this is pull up jumpers and pick and roll wide open shots. Carter is looking good, Sefolosha is struggling tonight with Carter's quickness. Jason Williams is also running circles around Westbrook. Well that pretty much sucked, terrible shooting across the board. The Magic just out played the Thunder plain and simple the whole quarter. Howard did whatever he wanted down low, Williams made everyone look like they were running in slow motion, and the Thunder were generally just lazy closing out on perimeter shots.

Score to end the Quarter 28-17 Magic

Second Quarter

For all the talk about the Thunder's defensive improvement they suck in transition. The Magic have only started to take advantage of the lack of transition defense, against Houston it crippled them. And it is not a case of the Thunder not getting numbers back, frequently the Thunder have players back but they just don't do a good job finding the oppositions players.

Hmm the Magic are shooting 60% from three, if you are going under the screen thinking they won't shoot the three you're wrong. And if you think the Magic aren't going to make the shots it is looking like that's wrong too. So the Thunder are going to have to try and fight through or go over the screens if they want to stop the magic from dropping the threes.

It's going to be one of those games, the Thunder don't really have much defensive intensity. They really aren't shooting well, they are lax closing out on the Magic shooters, Williams is just blowing by Westbrook, and Jeff Green is again struggling to put the ball in the basket. They need to pick up the intensity on defense first and foremost, if you do that then the shots will start to fall and the ones that don't you might get a rebound to extend the possession.

Score to finish the half 61-43 Magic

Half

With 18 seconds left in the first half the Thunder finally started to play with some energy, the result of that defensive intensity, a defensive stop. So realistically the Thunder played 18 seconds so far and are down 18 points. The good news James Harden is 3-4 and has 12 points, Dwight Howard has 3 fouls, and Serge Ibaka is playing well. The bad news Jeff Green looks hurt, other than Harden nobody is shooting well, and the Magic are shooting over 53% from three. Everyone on the Magic is lighting it up right now, and that is at least partly due to the lazy challenges from the Thunder. I guess the win last night against Miami really took it out of them, or maybe they stayed out too late on the club scene, or maybe they think hey we won the first what more do they want. The Magic did not come out like a team with something to prove and yet here we are Thunder down 18. If there is more of the team that played the last 18 seconds in the second half than the team that played the first 23 minutes 42 seconds then the Thunder could make this a game, otherwise it is going to be a long night.

Third Quarter

The Thunder did not come out with much intensity. They haven't quit but that's about the only positive thing that can be said tonight about this performance. Green pulled up holding his groin earlier in the period, He is obviously in some pain but is still out there trying to get up and down the court. Ibaka has looked good in the minutes he has played but towards the end of the quarter he picks up a couple of fouls. One of the fouls was pretty much just a terrible call but you have to live with those sometimes. Westbrook deserves some kudos for not quitting even when down big, he just got two steals that were basically hustle plays.

Score to finish the Quarter 88-58 Magic

Fourth Quarter

To open up the quarter the Thunder have Ollie, White, Weaver, Harden, and Collison on the floor. I wonder if they will play the entire quarter. This will give us a chance to evaluate some of the younger guys. I hope they use Weaver to run the point. Weaver got the steal on Gordat off the hustle play.

White is showing off a nice shot and Weaver some nice passing. Both White and Weaver have looked good, granted it is against backups in a game that has been decided, but the Magic are still playing hard. Except for one throw up a prayer to beat the clock shot white has not missed a shot. Weaver is 3-5 with 2 steals and 2 assists. Ibaka just showed off a nice running jump hook that looked pretty sweet.

Score to finish the Game 108-94 Magic

The Good and The Bad individually

The Good

Russell Westbrook

Never quit. Down over 20 midway through the third he was still playing hard and got two steals to try and spark the Thunder into a comeback. He may have finished 3-11 but no one was shooting well tonight and on a night like this effort is prized.

Serge Ibaka

23 minutes 6 points and 9 rebounds that's pretty good if you ask me. He didn't score until the game had been decided but he did show off a nice running hook that has some potential. Ibaka also looked really good on defense. He also brought energy to the court and played hard all night.

The Bad

The shooting from everyone was bad. Not that they were taking bad shots but the shots just were not falling. And on a night when your shot isn't falling you need to pick up the slack on the defensive side and tonight the Thunder just did not have it. The energy wasn't there, the team defense that had been the hallmark of the Thunder so far was absent. Congratulations go to the Magic they earned this win and it was every bit the dominance the score would suggest and then some.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment