The Thunder went on the road to take on Portland in Game 1 of their first round series and dropped the opener to the Blazers, 104-99.
It was a lackluster performance from the Thunder, who had a horrific shooting night as a team, hitting just 5-of-33 three-point attempts (15.2 percent). The only member of the Thunder to hit multiple threes was Paul George, who went 4-of-15 from distance in the loss.
George, who has been battling a shoulder injury for much of the latter portion of the season, had 26 points and 10 rebounds, but needed 24 shots to get there, making eight of those attempts. Obviously, he needs more support from his teammates than a 1-of-18 effort from deep, but the Thunder also rely heavily on George to provide them spacing and a three-point threat. That’s why it was concerning to hear George talk after the game about the health of his shoulder and how Game 1 was the first time he’d shot in days after not being able to lift his shoulder four days prior.
Thunder's Paul George (8-24 shooting, 4-15 from deep in Game 1 loss to Blazers) on his health & shoulder injury: "For me, it's just rhythm. Four days ago, I couldn't even lift my shoulder. Fast forward to today, that's the first day I shot the ball." pic.twitter.com/9M3dwrmtu2
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 14, 2019
The optimistic view is that George is making progress and will, hopefully, find that rhythm moving forward, as will the rest of the Thunder team. Still, it’s hard not to be worried that he’ll struggle to find that stroke over the course of just a few games.
If he doesn’t, the Thunder will need Russell Westbrook to shake free of his season-long shooting woes, who was 8-of-17 and 0-of-4 from three in Game 1, and carry more of the scoring load. That doesn’t seem like a great option, and no one else on the Thunder is reliable enough to lean on for an entire series to pick up the slack. That puts the pressure squarely on George and his injured shoulder to figure things out in a hurry.
It’s not impossible for the Thunder to win this series without lighting it up from distance, as evidenced by just a five-point loss when hitting 15 percent of their threes. Still, if they’re to avoid back-to-back first round exits they need George to get comfortable or to see someone step up, and only one of those seems likely.
