Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Can Quickly Fix Offensive Lull in Game 2

The Oklahoma City Thunder did not play their best game on the offensive end of the floor on Sunday, but things can quickly change in Game 2.

Apr 21, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The game changes in the postseason, the pace slows down, whistles are swallowed and buckets are hard to come by. Though, typically not as they were to come by on Sunday in the Paycom Center.

For different reasons, neither team could buy a bucket not even in the resale market. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, they should feel much better about their offensive woes subsiding than their Zion Williamson-less Pelican counterparts.

It is a make-or-miss league and the Bricktown boys missed on Sunday. Though, it had little to do with the Pelicans flocking to shots and disrupting possessions.

The Thunder owned a top-five offense during the NBA's regular season which included jaw-dropping efficiency that placed them atop the NBA from beyond the arc. In Game 1 against the Pelicans, the Bricktown boys clanked wide-open triples to the tune of 31 percent from distance and only chipped in 43 percent of their shots from the floor overall.

While the six-day layoff certainly did not help the Thunder catch a groove - and not knowing their first-round matchup until 48 hours earlier can not help - a lot of their woeful stats in this game are a direct outcome of bad results on a good process.

The typical corner triples, rim runs and mid-range missiles didn't rattle home for Oklahoma City, but there are still ways the Thunder can make life easier on themselves.

For starters, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can get back to his regular season rhythms and attack the first crease the defense gives him early in the shot clock forcing the Pelicans to react to him. As they collapse using his drive-and-kick ability once he hits the painted area to generate wide-open looks from 3-point land.

No matter if you want to chalk this up to inexperience or the tempo of the playoffs, even Thunder head man Mark Daigneault explained before the team's first postseason voyage that the snails pace in the playoffs is a tad overblown.

“The game slows down but there isn't any less transition opportunities. The game slows down because teams are imitating their offense later,” Daigneault said on Sunday.

Oklahoma City can dictate when they start their actions a tad better on Wednesday and immediately find more offensive success.

It also trickles down to their five-man Chet Holmgren. If the Pelicans are going to place Jonas Valanciunas on the rookie, Oklahoma City should counter with Holmgren at the top of the key in a five-out shell and let the Gonzaga product go to work. It is what makes the former 2nd overall pick so valuable as Larry Nance Jr. described before Game 1.

“It is a combination of his rim protection and shooting ability. There are very few bigs like that in the NBA today, and to be able to come in and do that year one as well as put it on the ground a little it just makes [Chet Holmgren] a unique cover.” Nance Jr. told Inside the Thunder when discussing what makes the Thunder's man in the middle so unique.

With that five-out shell comes the Thunder's ability to lean on another typical postseason crutch: Hunt mismatches in the pick-and-roll. Without Williamson, New Orleans needs all the scoring help they can get which including keeping CJ McCollum on the floor for as long as possible.

In this five-out offense, Oklahoma City can bring McCollum to the ball more and gain advantageous switches forcing McCollum onto the links of Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander who can pop shots over the top of the 6-foot-3 guard.

Despite only mustering 94 points, it was not an overly taxing path to those digits. The real frustration lay in missing makable shots. However, with these polished pointers, the Thunder can start to blaze the nets again.

Stiles Points

• The Oklahoma City Thunder will wear their Blue uniforms against the New Orleans Pelicans Red threads on Wednesday in Game 2 of this series.
• With the Los Angeles Lakers falling to the Denver Nuggets, the NBA has released an update to Monday April 29 slate. Should the Lakers force a game 5, the Thunder vs Pelicans contest will tip-off at 7:30 PM CT on NBATV. Though, if the Purple and Gold are swept, the Thunder and Pelicans clash in the Bayou will start at 8:30 PM CT on TNT.
• Dyson Daniels dished on his childhood friendship with Josh Giddey before the series tipped off on Sunday.
• Chet Holmgren was featured in the new Nike Ad campaign for the KD 17s which was narrated by Kevin Durant himself.
• The NBA released the last two-minute report on Monday afternoon with the lone blemish revealing the officials should have blown the whistle faster on the Pelicans during their late-game foul. This would have sent Jalen Williams to the line instead of Chet Holmgren who split the difference.

Song of the Day: A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke.

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