No Harden, No Westbrook, No Title

The OKC Thunder only lasted 5 games against the Memphis Grizzlies.  The depleted Thunder played hard, never quit, but were outgunned by a healthy Grizzlies squad.  Every game in the series was close and if Russell Westbrook was healthy the Thunder would likely be marching on to the Western Conference Finals.  But he wasn't, and worse yet, his absence illuminated the fact that no superstar wins alone in today's NBA.  Durant, known for his clutchness and amazing player efficiency rating late in games, came up short four straight times against the Grizzlies without Westbrook.  Once upon a time the sky was the limit for the Thunder.  Today it looks like the window has narrowed.

Things didn't go as planned this season for the Thunder.  The one time favorite to challenge the Miami Heat for an NBA championship began the season with a stunning trade of James Harden.  OKC's Big 3 would have to be a duo altering their future forever.

The Thunder remained confident despite the loss of Harden.  After all, they still had the second best player in the game in Durant, and another top 5 player by his side in Westbrook.   The role players were in place, and the number 1 seed was locked up with relative ease over the regular season.

The basketball gods had a sense of humor for the Thunder's first round playoff series pairing them against Harden and the Houston Rockets.  The laughing stopped when Patrick Beverley collided with Westbrook's knee on an unnecessary play from the overzealous rookie.  A torn meniscus was Westbrook's diagnosis a day after the Thunder took a 2-0 series lead.  He was done for the season.

No more Westbrook.  No Harden.  But they still had Durant.  The best of the three.  The leader.  The most clutch player in the NBA.  The most well liked player in the NBA.  Infallible.  Unguardable.  A once in a generation player who always comes up big in the biggest moments.

The Thunder responded by taking game 3 from the Rockets.  It wasn't smooth, but it wasn't supposed to be the first night without Westbrook.  They got the win and Durant played great as both a scorer and distributor.

But then a loss.

And then another.

The Rockets took the Thunder to game 6 who were now 1-2 without Westbrook.  No longer were Thunder fans confident they would compete for the championship.  It was obvious that every game and every series would be a grind.

But they still had Durant.  There was no telling how big Durant could play when backed against the wall and forced to volume shoot.  If there's ever been any criticism of Durant it's that he is too unselfish.  He defers too much to Westbrook.  Fans and critics alike wanted to see what he could do "on his own."

The Thunder won game 6 and took the series from the Rockets.  It proved to be short lived relief as they prepared for the Memphis Grizzlies.  The Thunder barely squeaked out a 7 game series two years ago against a short-handed Grizzlies.  Now the tables were turned.

Game 1 was clunky for Durant's supporting cast.  The team started slow and trailed the entire game.  It wasn't until Durant hit clutch buckets in the final few minutes of the game including the game winner with 11.1 seconds left that the Thunder took control.  His line was even more video game than normal: 35 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal.  Superman had done it again.  Swooped in and the saved the day.

Durant's clutchness was the running narrative Monday and Tuesday in the sport's world.  We marveled at Durant's player efficiency rating in the last 2 minutes of playoff games.  Absurd.  No one in the league was even close.  His "clutch gene" is why so many preferred his game to Lebron James.  His greatest strength was perhaps Lebron's biggest weakness.

Four games later the Thunder season was over. 

Confidence was high entering game 2.  The Thunder played poorly as a team and still came away with the win in game 1.  Surely they would improve collectively.  Durant single-handedly kept the Thunder in game 2 but fell short missing his last three shots. A colossal effort with a near triple-double and 36 points was wasted.  With those numbers Durant was hardly to blame for missing shots late.  Even the most clutch performer in the NBA can't be perfect.

Unfortunately for the Thunder, Durant's late game misses, not his makes, became the story of the series.  Game 3 saw Durant miss a jumper to tie with 1 minute left and later he missed 2 free throws.  The 90 percent free throw shooter clearly was struggling.  Two straight games of failing in the clutch.

Game 4 saw the Thunder jump out to a 17 point lead only to have the Grizzlies come back to force overtime and eventually win.  Durant went 2-13 in the final period and overtime including a missed layup.  In fairness, he did make a layup to force overtime, but it was his 4th quarter cold spell that put the Thunder behind.

After game 4 the Thunder were resigned to their fate.  That awful feeling in sports where the fire in your stomach is replaced with numbness.  You could see it on Durant's face when he missed a shot.  He missed Westbrook's scoring and ball handling, but more apparent was how he missed his energy.  Fatigue and the pressure of carrying the entire load had taken its toll.  Durant finished the game with 7 turnovers and shot 5-21 including a missed a wide open jumper that would have tied the game with 4 seconds left.

You can't blame the guy for losing the series. He had virtually no help.  The Thunder wouldn't have been able to compete without Durant, but he missed several opportunities he normally takes advantage of.  The same opportunities that built his reputation.

The Thunder will face real off season adversity for the first time.  The role players underperformed, head coach Scott Brooks was out-coached by Lionel Hollins, Westbrook will be rehabbing his surgically repaired knee, and Durant had his confidence shaken.  Whether admitted or not, OKC believed as long as Durant was on the floor they would win.  They couldn't.  A championship no longer feels like a matter of time.

That's just the way it works when you're an NBA superstar.  Expectations are set for you not by you.  Michael Jordan had to get better teammates, better coaches, and suffer through 7 years of playoff heartbreaks.  LeBron had to change teams and see his name and reputation stepped on by nearly everyone with a microphone or keyboard before getting his ring.  Perhaps this will be Durant's process.  One bad series will not define Durant, but there is no denying he fell short of his own expectations.

Perhaps the one who deserves the most blame is someone within the Thunder organization who is used to praise.  Sam Presti might not have had final say when trading Harden, but the Thunder will never be as good as they once could have.  If nothing else, they could have waited a year to deal him.  His trade value was certain to remain very high.  Was it solely a financial decision, or did they just not realize how good Harden actually was?  Whatever the reason, Presti believed they could win without him.

There also should be questions about Presti's due diligence involving trades. Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Martin both made sense for the roster but saw their production falter as Thunder players.  Perkins might be the worst athlete to start for an NBA team.  He adds nothing offensively, cannot spread the floor to open the lanes for OKC slashers, and has a  2" vertical.  Martin had the opportunity to pick up the slack for Westbrook (a job that would have fallen to Harden) but was inconsistent at best.

There's plenty of blame to go around.  Brooks is not innocent, the bench, Ibaka, Martin, injuries...Ultimately, the guy that deserves the greatest share of credit will receive the bulk of the blame for this collapse.  A difficult truth, but that's life as an NBA superstar.

Can Durant get the job done with Westbrook?  Probably so.  They are both still very young and will continue to grow together, but the optimism that once surrounded this franchise has been replaced with a healthy dose of doubt.