And this is exactly why I think OKC is in trouble and may end up losing this series. They need a reliable third scorer and Kanter is their best option, by far. He's one of the most efficient low post scorers in the game. Just look up his regular season stats (4th in the league in FG%, 4th in ORtg, 6th in TS% and eFG%, etc.). Without his offense, Westbrook and Durant combined for 71 points last night, and they still lost by 9. They also miss Kanter's offensive rebounding. He led the entire league in ORB%, and it really wasn't close. Those ORBs are extra possessions, and given that OKC shoots lower percentages from both 2FG and 3FG range than GSW, those extra possessions are important.
Ibaka and Adams are both way better defensively than Kanter, but neither is a reliable 3rd scorer. Nor are Waiters or Roberson. Given GSWs explosive offense, Westbrook and Durant could both got for 40 and OKC could still lose. That actually seems to be GSW's game plan - let Russ and KD get their's and force somebody else to step up. Unless one of Adams, Ibaka, Waiters or Roberson steps up in Game 6, OKC may be in trouble.
I get that Kanter's defense sucks, but without his offense, they are often playing 2-5 on offense. Yeah, KD and Westbrook are both great scorers, but they can only do so much. Of all the players on OKC's roster, after Westbrook and Durant, the one the most likely to step up and have a good offensive game is Kanter. None of their other players can come close to matching his offensive output or efficiency.
I think that's the real problem here. When Westbrook tries to do too much, it hurts his team. He has a history of freezing out more efficient scoring teammates, including KD and Harden, with the game on the line. That has improved this year, under Donovan. Westbrook isn't freezing out KD the way he used to, but now he's dabbling in coaching and telling Donovan who to play and when to play them. Now, Kanter is barely playing and not getting touches when he does. And if the head coach decides he knows what's best for the team and decides to overrule the player-coach and play Kanter significant minutes, Westbrook is just the type of selfish prick that would freeze out Kanter just to make a point. I mean they guy spent years freezing out Durant because he wanted to play hero ball. He won't hesitate to freeze out Kanter in order to get Donovan to pull him.
OKC really needs to win Game 6. They don't want to go back to GSW for a Game 7. They need to play as a team and right now, they're not all on the same page. Their PG and 3rd best scorer definitely aren't on the same page. If they end up loosing this series, there is bound to be bad blood and finger pointing. Not good, given what they're paying Kanter moving forward and that they'll have to max out both Durant and Westbrook to keep them.
A leader brings his team together. This is why Dame is a leader and Westbrook is not.
BNM
