News » is, who had already been ruled out for the rest

The Oklahoma City Thunders two worst losses this season -- a 26-point loss to the Golden State Warriors in Kevin Durants first game against his former team last month and a 19-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night -- share something in common, and its not just that I happened to attend both of them.Those performances were also Oklahoma Citys two worst games of the season in terms of finishing around the basket. That fact has important implications for how teams defend the Thunder and MVP candidate Russell Westbrook -- who had two of his three worst games of the season by game score at Golden State and Portland -- going forward.Oklahoma City lives in the painted areaIn a league obsessed with the 3-pointer, the Thunder have never been that team, and this season -- without Durant -- they are especially anemic from outside. While Oklahoma City ranks in the middle of the pack in attempting 3s, the teams 32.8 percent accuracy ranks 26th in the league.Instead, the Thunders offense relies on beating a path to the rim. Oklahoma City takes a league-high 38.3 percent of its shots in the restricted area, per NBA.com/Stats.Naturally, Westbrook leads the charge. Only DeMarcus Cousins, at 8.9 per game, has averaged more attempts in the restricted area than Westbrook (8.8).While Westbrook is something of a volume finisher -- his 57.3 percent shooting on those attempts is worse than league average (60.2 percent) -- theyre such good shots that merely attempting them has been a good thing for the Thunder, except against the Warriors and Blazers.Packing the paint against Oklahoma CityThe combination of the Thunders non-shooting and effectiveness getting to the basket leads to an inevitable conclusion: The best way to stop Oklahoma City is to pack the paint defensively, sagging off shooters and creating extra resistance around the rim.Nobody has achieved that better than Portland did Tuesday. After the game, Blazers coach Terry Stotts highlighted his teams presence in the paint -- not just the guy guarding [Westbrook] or the screener, but everybody. I thought that was effective for us.What did that look like?In the play above, Westbrook has drawn a favorable switch, getting matched up against Portland center Mason Plumlee. But the slower Plumlee has reinforcements. All four other Blazers have at least one foot in the paint, including Allen Crabbe playing far off his assignment (Andre Roberson, a 30.4 percent 3-point shooter).With so much help behind him, Plumlee could comfortably play up on Westbrook and force him to shoot a contested jumper that the Thunder guard missed.When Westbrook did get into the paint, he found a big man in his path with enough help to recover and defend after a Westbrook pass. In this case, Enes Kanter missed a contested attempt over Meyers Leonard.Despite lacking a strong shot blocker, Portland actually has surrendered the leagues second-lowest shooting percentage in the restricted area at 55.8 percent this season. (The Utah Jazz, who host the Thunder tonight, are at 54.9 percent behind the more traditional rim protection of Rudy Gobert.)Against Oklahoma City, the Blazers were able to improve on that strong mark. The Thunder shot 43.2 percent, their season-worst mark, in the restricted area.Portland took advantage of the absence of Oklahoma City shooting guard Victor Oladipo, who leads the team with 51 3-pointers, to pack the paint more than normal. But the Warriors showed earlier this season the ability to generate similar results against a full-strength Thunder roster. Golden State did it by aggressively playing off Roberson and also conceding open 3s to rookie Domantas Sabonis, whos shot 42.4 percent from beyond the arc this season but averaged just one make per game.On the above play, for example, Draymond Green sits between Westbrook and the paint, paying little attention to his man (Sabonis) as Durant defends two Oklahoma City players while still getting in position to help.Can the Thunder beat a packed paint?Oklahoma City can mitigate the effect of aggressive paint-packing with good player movement off the ball, which makes it more difficult for one defender to handle two players.Overall, the Thunder have been reasonably effective offensively with Westbrook on the court, posting a 105.6 offensive rating, which would be good for 11th in the NBA this season. With Westbrook on the bench their offense collapses, averaging just 93.5 points per 100 possessions.Still, as the season goes on Oklahoma City can expect to see more teams following the lead of the Blazers and Warriors. Expect teams to be particularly aggressive packing the paint come the playoffs, when theyll have more time to game-plan for Oklahoma City. Already, NBA.coms John Schuhmann notes that the Thunder have the worst record of any current Western Conference playoff team against the rest of the conferences top eight, in large part because of their poor offense -- with games against Golden State and Portland factoring heavily into that.If Oklahoma City is to have success in the postseason, the team will have to find out a way to pull opponents away from the basket by making enough 3s to make them think twice about packing the paint. Elie Okobo Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Ray Spalding Jersey . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.cheapjerseysauthenticnba.us/wendell-carter-jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Lonnie Walker Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Aaron Holiday Jersey . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. TORONTO -- Trevor Bauer and his drone were ready to explain themselves.The Cleveland right-hander kept the mood light at his news conference Sunday, showing up with the drone he said cut his finger and forced him to miss his start in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series. Bauer is scheduled to pitch Game 3 on Monday night against Toronto, with the Indians leading the series 2-0.I brought my friend to answer any questions about what happened that I cant answer, Bauer said while the drone sat on display on the table in front of him.Bauer received stitches on his right pinkie after the accident Thursday night, and both he and manager Terry Francona now say they dont expect the injury to affect him much when he faces the Blue Jays. Josh Tomlin started in Bauers place Saturday and Cleveland won , which no doubt made it easier for the Indians to chuckle a bit about the mishap.He was messing around with his drone. He wasnt out in some alley at 3 in the morning and got cut on a beer can, Francona said. It wasnt like he was waterskiing. He just cut his finger. It wasnt remotely malicious.Bauer, a self-described nerd and big Star Wars fan who studied mechanical engineering in college, said he became interested in drones after seeing a video of them a few years ago. He said he likes to learn new tricks and fly them close to obstacles, which can lead to crashes. He is constantly having to repair his drones.Bauer said he cut his finger on a propeller.I plugged it in, like Ive done thousands and thousands of times. ... This one spun up at max throttle, he said. It never happened to me before. I have no idea why it happened, and my finger just happened to be in the way of the prop and it cut me.Bauers injury was another setback for a Cleveland rotation that lost Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar toward the end of the regular season. The Indians have kept winning anyway. The AL Central champions swept Boston in the Division Series and have taken the first two games from Toronto.The Blue Jays will send Marcus Stroman to the mound Monday, but the bigger issue for them right now is their hitting . Toronto has scored only one run in the ALCS so far, failing to break through against Clevelands starters and looking overmatched aagainst the Indians Andrew Miller-led bullpen.ddddddddddddAll youve got to do is go look at video and try to count how many times theyve thrown pitches over the heart of the plate, Toronto slugger Jose Bautista said. It hasnt been many.Miller has thrown 3 2/3 scoreless innings in this series, striking out five in each of the first two games. He became the first pitcher with two separate postseason outings of at least five strikeouts in no more than two innings, according to information provided by the Indians from the Elias Sports Bureau.If hes on, theres not a lot you can do with him, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. Hes got an overpowering fastball, and hes got that incredible slider.Bautista said Miller now seems to be throwing his slider a couple different ways, and the 6-foot-7 left-hander didnt dispute that.I throw it pretty differently and not always intentionally, Miller said. When you throw it backdoor, I want as much horizontal break (as I can). I want the ball to start as far off the plate and come back and catch the corner. In certain counts, if Im trying to get a swing and miss, I want more depth.The Blue Jays can take some solace in the schedule, which now calls for three games in three days. That might prevent Francona from being quite as aggressive with Miller in relief, although Toronto has to avoid a sweep for all three of those games to be played.If the Blue Jays stay quiet offensively, it could be a short series.Its a slugging team, thats how theyre built, Gibbons said. You are what you are a lot of times when you get to a certain point in this game, and you live and die with it.Game notes The Blue Jays said 2B Devon Travis, who had already been ruled out for the rest of the postseason, will likely need a knee scope. He aggravated a right knee injury in Game 1, and an MRI showed a bone bruise with a small flap of cartilage caught in the joint. He is expected to be ready for spring training. ... Stroman hasnt pitched since Oct. 4, when he threw six solid innings in the wild-card game against Baltimore .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Chiefs Jerseys China Cheap Nike Chargers Jerseys Cheap Nike Raiders Jerseys Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys China Cheap Nike Giants Jerseys Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys For Sale Wholesale Redskins Jerseys China Cheap Nike Lions Jerseys Packers Jerseys China Cheap Vikings Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Panthers Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Saints Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike Buccaneers Jerseys Cardinals Jerseys China Cheap Rams Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Nike 49ers Jerseys Seahawks Jerseys China Bears Jerseys China Cheap Nike Bills Jerseys Ravens Jerseys China Wholesale Falcons Jerseys China ' ' '