J-Speaks: Thunder Lose Perimeter Defensive Ace

One week ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder garnered seventh consecutive victory, their seventh in a row, 121-108 at the Detroit Pistons (24-26) and improving them to 20-8 since Dec. 1, 2017. Thunder All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who became the 21^st player in NBA history to reach the 25,000-point mark. All-Star lead guard Russell Westbrook had his 15^th triple-double on the season, and 94 of his career with 31 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds. The victory though was bittersweet as the Thunder lost a key member of their starting five. 

In the third quarter of the Thunder’s (30-21) victory on Saturday afternoon, their perimeter defensive ace in guard Andre Roberson suffered a serious leg injury after he landed hard on his back. The five-year guard, who was selected with the No. 26 overall pick out of the University of Colorado, after that tough fall immediately dragged himself off the court so he could receive medical attention. 

The injury occurred when at the 4:33 mark of the third quarter Roberson broke to the basket from the right corner as Westbrook threw a lob to him, but he crumpled to the hardwood after his leg bent over in an awkward direction. 

The injury was so serious, that Roberson had to be examined by medical trainers for several minutes, before being taken off the court via gurney at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI, with his left placed in an air cast. 

Before he was carted off, several of Roberson’s teammates were huddled around him, while Anthony took a knee at midcourt.  

“It’s a hard situation, to kind of be up close and personal with that like that,” Anthony said. “The only thing I did was kind of take a knee and pray a little bit and hope things go for the best at that point.” 

Anthony also said after the game that it was “1,000 percent” difficult to return “to a competitive mindset after seeing one of your guys go down like that.”

It showed as the Thunder who led by as man as 25 points, see their lead cut to nine late in the fourth quarter before pulling away. 

As he was being taken off the court, Roberson exchanged a fist bump with a fan as he was being carted off.  

This past Sunday, the Thunder confirmed the 26-year-old Roberson, who they re-signed to a new three-year, $30 million deal suffered a rupture to the patellar tendon in his left knee. He will miss the rest of the season. 

Head coach Billy Donovan confirmed the nature of Roberson’s injury after the game but did not the extent of it.

“He’s certainly a huge,” Donovan said, “and I think everybody’s been able to see that since he’s…come back to us, and the way he’s played defensively. You play 82 games, there’s going to be guys that are gonna be in and out, and different guys will have to step up in his absence.” 

While the loss of Roberson will unlikely effect the Thunder offensively, as he was averaging five points, and 4.7 rebounds in 26 minutes per game, they have felt his absence at the defensive end, especially lately. 

To bring this point into context, Thunder have allowed 100 points or more on five occasions without Roberson in the lineup. The Thunder loss four of those five contests. 

They allowed 112 points, in their 122-112 win versus the Philadelphia 76ers (24-24), who shot 50 percent from the field, and 11 for 29 from three-point range.  

While the Washington Wizards (29-22) shot just 38.2 percent versus the Thunder, and out-rebounded them 61-53, the Thunder had 27 assists on their 34 field goals in the 102-96 victory. The Thunder forced just 12 turnovers, and committed 21 of their own, though they gave up just 13 points. 

“It’s tough,” Westbrook said to reporters earlier in the week. “Dre is my boy. I love having him on the floor with me, and it’s a tough situation for him. We are just going to continue to lift him up, and pray for him, keep our spirits high for him, and keep this thing rolling.” 

For the Thunder to keep their hot streak going, they will need the likes of Alex Abrines, rookie Terrance Ferguson, Josh Huestis, Raymond Felton, Steven Adams, Patrick Patterson, and Jerami Grant to pick up the slack on both ends. 

On offense, they will need these role players to make perimeter shots when the All-Star trio of Westbrook, Anthony, and George get double teamed. 

In the team’s victory versus the Sixers, they combined for 38 points and 26 rebounds, on 16 for 24 from the field. 

In the Thunder’s setback on Tuesday at the Wizards, the role players combined for 36 points, and 34 rebounds, but shot just 10 for 27 from the field. 

The Thunder defensively were lit up like a Christmas tree on Thursday night in their 127-124 loss at the Denver Nuggets (27-25), with guard Garry Harris hitting the game-winning three-point field goal with 01.4 seconds left in regulation. His fifth make in nine tries on the night. 

They gave up over 30 points in each quarter, with the Nuggets putting up 40 points in taking a 40-33 lead after the first and led by as many as 20 points in the third before the Thunder made a miraculous led by a season-high 43 points of George, who had 14 of them in the four quarter. He was 19 for 26 from the floor, including 5 for 8 from three-point range. Westbrook nearly had another triple-double with 20 points, a season-high 21 assists, nine rebounds, and two steals. Anthony, a former Nugget had 10 points.

While the Thunder got 51 points, and 18 boards combined from Adams, Abrines, Grant, Felton, and Patterson, who were a major part of the Thunder shooting 52 percent on the night, with 34 assists, and just seven turnovers, they went just 9 for 28 from three-point range. 

They allowed the Nuggets to shoot 51.5 percent from the floor; connect on 15 of their 39 three-pointers; forced just 11 turnovers; and register 32 assists on their 50 made field goals.  

Nuggets lead guard Jamal Murry had his way all night with his seventh 30-plus point game of the season with 33 points, going 14 for 23 from the floor, including 5 for 8 from distance. Nikola Jokic had his third triple-double of the season, and the ninth of his career with 29 points, 13 rebounds, and a career-high 14 assists, which is the second most in Nuggets franchise history, behind the 43 of former guard Lafayette “Fat” Lever. Harris had 25 points, hitting 9 for 16 from the floor. Will Barton, who missed two game-winning shots in closes losses versus the East leading Boston Celtics (37-15) 111-110 on Monday night, and a 106-104 loss at the No. 3 Seeded in the West San Antonio Spurs (34-20) on Wednesday night had 15 points, six boards, and four assists. 

“A lot changes,” Westbrook said on Saturday. “A lot of things that’s not seen on the court, a lot of things not seen in the stat sheet—and that’s a huge part. Like I’ve always said, he’s a huge part of our team’s success. And obviously, with him going down, we’ve got to be able to figure out and make up for the things he brings to the game defensively and offensively.”

While the team will continue to put their best foot forward in their drive for supremacy in the West, they all said to a man that they will be there for Roberson, who has spent his entire five-year career with the Thunder as he deals with the long road back from this injury. 

George, who broke his right leg in an exhibition game with the USA Basketball team in the summer of 2014 said, “I’ll be there for him along the way, try to help as much as possible, putting him in a good place with the injury.” 

“Because I know how it is. I’ve been down that road before. So real unfortunate. But one thing about Dre, man, he’s tough, and he’s a strong person, so he’ll definitely persevere through it.”  

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/27/18 www.nba.com story “Thunder Guard Andre Roberson Ruptures Patellar Tendon Against Pistons;” 1/28/18 www.espn.com article, “Andre Roberson Suffers Ruptured Patellar Tendon,” by Michael Rothstein; www.espn.com/nba/standings; www.nba.com/games/20180127/OKCDET#/recap;  www.nba.com/games/20180201/OKCDEN#/preview; www.nba.com/games/20180201/OKCDEN/boxscore/matchup;  www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2530596/andre-roberson; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3468/russell-westbrook; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Lloyd.