NBA Playoffs 2019: Keys to Portland Trail Blazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder matchup
By Ben Ladner
2. Do the Thunder have adequate floor spacing?
In addition to acting as one of Oklahoma City’s primary offensive initiators, George is one of its only credible shooters. Westbrook, despite hoisting 5.6 triples per game, remains one of the worst shooting point guards in the NBA while Patrick Patterson and Markieff Morris haven’t had their intended impacts as shooters. Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson shoot solid percentages, but playoff opponents will concede them open looks as an alternative to George and Westbrook having their ways.
Grant and Aminu, then could serve as bellwethers for their respective teams’ offensive success and, by extension, the series. Both will have plenty of open looks from deep until they prove themselves worthy of being guarded, and therefore both could have outsized impacts on their teams’ floor spacing. Should Grant and the rest of OKC’s role players fail to knock down open looks, the offense will be working uphill most of the time. Even players as talented as Oklahoma City’s two stars need room to breathe, and their familiar driving lanes and launching pads won’t be quite as accessible with Blazers poised to collapse onto them at any given time.
The Thunder have dealt with this problem before and have methods of creating space despite having so few shooters. George can shoot over any defender and through the tightest of windows, while Westbrook is a relentless, overwhelming force going toward the rim. But in the high-stakes environment of the playoffs, every little edge matters, and stretching Portland’s defense would go a long way in augmenting the advantages Oklahoma City already has.