OKLAHOMA CITY — Imitating an NFL safety, Victor Oladipo intercepted a cross-court pass in the opening minute of the second half before turning on the jets to coast in for a layup and a 62-54 Thunder lead.
Defense turned into offense. It was that simple.
Oklahoma City had been terrorizing Houston with pesky defense up to that point in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.
But the defensive awareness and intensity that had forced 19 Houston turnovers and had given OKC a chance to tie the playoff series at two games apiece went rogue at the worst possible time —sending the Thunder into a 3-1 abyss after a 113-109 home loss to the Rockets.
A flustered James Harden heated up in the fourth quarter and the Rockets dropped a 40 point bomb on the Thunder over the final 12 minutes to stun the sellout crowd of 18,203 decked out in white-clad Thunder T-shirts emblazoned in orange with the words “Rise and Roar.”
After Westbrook canned a deep 3-pointer to cut Houston’s lead to 108-107 with 20 seconds left, the Thunder committed their biggest defensive mental lapse of all.
They failed to foul.
Instead of putting the Rockets on the free throw line almost immediately, the Thunder watched Houston waltz up the court to feed a wide-open Nene, who converted a three-point play after getting fouled on a layup.
“We gave ourselves the opportunity to get a quick steal or a travel when we made the three to cut it to one,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “But once the ball crossed half court we needed to foul.”
Nene scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds off the bench as he carved up space in the paint and got easy looks to keep Houston in the game.
His final bucket in the closing seconds was the ultimate dagger for OKC.
The defense that had jolted the Thunder out to a double-digit first quarter lead (26-15) vanished when OKC needed it most.
“We made some mental mistakes,” Russell Westbrook said. “Obviously, we didn’t close the way we wanted to.”
Andre Roberson shut down Houston’s MVP candidate with tremendous pressure both on and off the ball. Roberson had four blocks in the first quarter alone and finished with 13 points, five blocks, four rebounds and two steals while driving Harden batty.
Fear the beard? Roberson wasn’t intimidated at all.
Harden finished with 16 points, but after just three quarters, he had just 8 points on 2-of-11 shooting along with six turnovers.
In the third quarter, Harden could be seen getting in mini cat fights with Thunder players, one of which was Steven Adams, shoving him around in his anger. He was jogging up the court in a lackadaisical manner and looked un-engaged.
As good as Roberson was on defense, and even on offense at times, it didn’t make up for his fatal flaw — free throw shooting.
Fouling Roberson in the final minutes paid off for Houston.
Roberson missed 10 free throws as he was an abysmal 2-for-12 at the charity stripe, which drew laughter from the Rockets’ bench as he missed foul shot after foul shot.
“I don’t like it,” Houston coach Mike D’Antoni admitted. “But it’s a rule that we’ll take advantage of. We just felt since they were already in the bonus, it was worth it. James (Harden), Nene and the guys could rest on the defensive end so then we could go score. It worked out for us.”
Due to the strategic hack-a-Roberson move by D’Antoni, Thunder coach Billy Donovan was forced to pull Roberson from the game with 42 seconds left.
“I feel that as a coach, it’s important that I show confidence in him,” Donovan said. “It probably slowed the momentum of the game a little bit while it was going on.
“But the job Andre (Roberson) has this entire series has been remarkable. This is a great opportunity for him to learn and grow through that.”
You can guess what happened the ensuing possession.
With Oladipo on him, the Beard regained his offensive swagger.
Houston cleared out as Harden went one-on-one isolation before rising and firing a jumper just beyond the free throw line.
The scoreboard changed to 108 Rockets, 103 Thunder as Harden’s shot swished through the net.
Had Roberson still been in the game, Harden likely wouldn’t have been able to create such a shot to essentially seal the win.
“I thought it was a great sign of respect from Mike (D’Antoni) to force us to get Andre (Roberson) off of Harden,” Donovan said.
In the first quarter, Roberson was cutting off Harden at every angle.
Out of a timeout, a Roberson block led to a run-out. Westbrook, who had a triple-double in the first half alone and finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, navigated the floor to find Jerami Grant for an emphatic one-handed slam dunk in traffic.
A few possessions later, Roberson cut off Harden baseline, forcing the former Thunder star to throw it away. It led to another fast break and a layup for Westbrook for a 21-13 lead.
Against Roberson, nothing came easy for Harden.
Against Oladipo? Harden made it look as if it was recess on the school playground.
And Roberson’s recess ended early due to his despicable free throw shooting that handed the game to Houston.
Sometime in the second half, the Thunder’s defensive intensity went out the window and their double-digit lead in the third quarter acting as a safety net vanished as well.
To make matters worse, OKC’s offense was rather sloppy for extended periods in the second half, and the Thunder were unable to make up for their costly defensive lapses.
Oklahoma City set the intensity level early in the game on Sunday, but it failed to cling to that level for a full 48 minutes.
If the Thunder fail to match that defensive intensity come Game 5 in Houston on Tuesday, Oklahoma City can kiss its season goodbye.