After game 4 in OKC, the Thunder amounted to what seemed like an insurmountable lead of 3-1 meaning they only had to win 1 of the next 3 to advance to the NBA finals. To make matters worse the Thunder still had a home game in hand, not only that but a home court they just swept the opposing champs in. The fact is they choked and it’s my job to break it down for you guys, so let’s get into it.
Game 5 was a flop, no way GSW was losing 3 straight especially at home so game 6 in Oklahoma is where it had to happen, and it didn’t. In game 6 OKC shot a HIGHER percentage from the field than GSW which was 42% compared to their 40%, but what killed them in game 6 and really game 7 was 3 point shooting in which OKC shot 13% from beyond the arc compared to the Warriors 46.7%. A higher percentage than both teams FG%. If the Thunder manage to somehow shoot a measly 20% from 3 in game 6 they are in the NBA finals…..Even with all that bad shooting, they were still winning and had a 13 point lead at one point in the game and 7 point lead with 5 minutes left, which they would squander by surrendering 5 turnovers in the last 5 minutes, most of them coming from Russell Westbrook.
In Game 7, neither Durant but especially Westbrook showed up to play. KD only took 19 shots in a legacy deciding game even though he was shooting 53% from the field and 43% from 3. He scored 27, yes, but that’s still below his season average and playoff average as well. His rebounds and assists were also below his regular/postseason average so all in all it was still a down game. Westbrook played miserably in game 6 and 7 and really proved to me that he isn’t better than KD. In all 3 elimination pending games, Russell went 27-78 from the floor which is 37% shooting, he also went 5/19 from 3. His efficiency was flat out awful, but KD was just as bad. In the final 3 impending clinching games, KD shot 40% from the floor on 32/81 and 7/26 from 3 which is 27%. Clearly he wasn’t as bad as Russell, but what makes it worse for Westbrook is he squandered game 6 for them late with turnovers and barely showed up in game 7; the biggest game of them all.
As far as being the great choke in NBA history? I’m not 100% sold on it being that after looking back on it. Even though the thunder went up 3-1, GSW wasn’t losing 3 in a row so game 5 is a flop. It really became a 3-2 series in which whoever won game 6 was winning the series because the Warriors were not losing game 7 in oracle. Without a doubt, it is a choke and one of the biggest ever, but being #1 is up for debate. Still no excuses.
Below are the best crying Jordan memes.
