The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered their worst offensive performance in years on Sunday night, falling 103-82 to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
With the series now tied at 2-2 heading back to Oklahoma City, the Thunder looked completely out of rhythm offensively from the opening minutes.
OKC shot just 33 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from beyond the arc while coughing up 20 turnovers that led to 25 San Antonio points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander admitted the Thunder were overwhelmed by the Spurs’ intensity from the jump.
“They just punched us in our face early,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think they just did a good job of being the aggressors. They were in us — forcing turnovers, being physical.”
It marked Oklahoma City’s lowest-scoring playoff game by a team with the NBA’s best regular season record since the Miami Heat were held to 77 points in the 2013 NBA Finals by these same Spurs.
The Thunder were also dealing with key injuries, with Jalen Williams sidelined by left hamstring soreness and Ajay Mitchell unavailable due to a right calf strain.
Still, SGA refused to use that as an excuse.
“Two of our handlers, our creators are out, but guys are good off the ball, and we played a fair amount of games this year with no handlers,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So, we’re a little bit used to that. But I mean, regardless, I think it’s just a snowball effect. I think when you come out with the right energy, things like that work out and the offense has flow. And I don’t think we came out with the right energy today.”
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was equally frustrated with the team’s execution against San Antonio’s swarming defense.
“I thought we left a lot to be desired on that end of the floor tonight,” Daigneault said. “We didn’t have the sharpness, force or precision necessary to crack them. They were really good defensively. Just their energy, their physicality.”
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