westbrook had 5 fouls with 6 minutes left in the game

Prior to those last 6 minutes of the game, he wasn’t having an outstanding offensive production scoring wise.

It should have been that 3rd quarter was too much for OKC to overcome.

the last 6 minutes it’s seems like the Blazers were so focused on trying to feed Wallace

For once (other than Roy, in the past) Nate was trying to ride the hot hand, but Wallace had already heat-checked and come up empty, it was clear he was spent by the end of the game

Despite Perkins flat-out beasting it the paint, the game was there to be won if the Blazers could only draw a 6th foul on RW. Instead, they switched big men onto him and let him bomb away—like Jamal Crawford, Russell always shoots lights-out against Portland

It’s hard to compete when you’re so badly out-played at the PG and C positions. Miller used get in Westbrook’s head, and LMA used to take it to Jeff Green, those days are gone.

Man, I hate losing to the Sonics. They’re like the picked-on little brother who grew up and now has payback on his mind…

There are numerous strategies a coach can employ during a game. If a team wins, the strategy looks good but it does not mean another strategy could have worked just as well.
In this case, LA and Wallace were just about all that was working tonight and instead of trying to force feed Miller, who had a few nice shots but just didn’t have it going, Nate chose to run through them. If he had gone away from them and they had lost, he would be criticized for going away from the hot hand.

Can we just clone Wallace already?

…I was yelling at the TV — which actually did not influence the players at all.

Are you sure about this?

You can stop if you want, but I’m gonna keep trying.

it was Nate’s switch-all-screens strategy, OKC knew Portland would do it so they kept running the PnR with their big men so Russell was defended by a Blazer big man, who naturally sagged off him

letting a 32% shooter bomb away from behind the arc is a good strategy, unless it’s Russell who shot 80% against Portland (as usual)

2008 draft, Westbrook instead of Bayless. Portland never seems to wind up on the winning side of the PG derby

It also helps when a bad long range shooter goes unconscious from behind teh arc. The momentum shifted on the no call on Perkins “block” and signaled to the Blazers that would would receive no help from the refs. Then the Perkins and-one that took away the foul to give told the team that the Thunder would get help. I think at this point the Blazers started to doubt that they were going to win the game.

A nice post, Krang. I must admit that while watching the game, I was pestering Nate to drive through Andre and foul out Westbrook with 5 minutes to go. If I had been the coach (thankful that I’m not), I would have ordered this up. But you make a very valid point. Now that the game is over, there is no telling what Westbrook’s replacement would have done, or whether Ibaka or Durant would have filled in the hole a different way.

after Wallace fell down on the break.