No defense, little bench help a recipe for a blowout for the Thunder.
View full sizeAnthony Parker drew the foul on Oklahoma City's Nick Collison on this second-quarter drive Sunday night, but the Cavaliers didn't get much out of their offense and couldn't slow the Thunder at all in a 106-77 loss.Then he started his address to the media with a big sigh.
Perhaps that's only natural after the Cavs lost their eighth straight game to fall to 7-17. It's their longest losing streak since they dropped eight straight from Nov. 19 to Dec. 3, 2003, LeBron James' rookie season.
Asked about the 30-minute delay, Scott said, "Thoughts to myself. Just trying to figure out some things." Most of those thoughts must have centered on how to get something out of his bench. Ever since Scott changed his starters against Chicago three games ago, moving Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson into the starting lineup, the bench has been a mess.
Although the Cavs entered Sunday with the most points scored by reserves, when Scott turned to them in the third quarter, the game got away for good.
"Our first unit is doing a pretty good job," Scott said. "I've got to find a combination of that second unit that's going to come in and play the right way and do the right things because as soon as all five [starters] are off the floor, we're just getting slaughtered."
J.J. Hickson, who went to the bench when Jamison was promoted, didn't want to hear that from his coach.
"Oh, so he's blaming it on the bench?" Hickson said. Then he caught himself.
"If he feels that way then, that's the way he feels," Hickson said. "That's his opinion. He's the head coach. He gets paid to make decisions to put players in and it's up to us to bring life to the game when we get in and cut the other team's lead down even more. We haven't been doing a good job of getting that done. But it's a long season; it's a work in progress."
In addition to the bench, there were multiple other problems on Sunday. The Thunder outscored the Cavs in the paint, 56-28, and scored 28 points off 17 turnovers, most on fastbreak layups and dunks. If you missed James Harden's dunk over Hickson, don't worry. It will be running in a loop on ESPN for the next 24 hours.
The Cavs did cut the Thunder's 22-point second-quarter lead to 56-45 by halftime, but the game never really felt competitive. Once again, the defense was to blame, as they let the Thunder shoot 61 percent in the first half. Kevin Durant had 14 of his 25 points in the first quarter, halfway to his league-leading average of 27.5.
The Cavs were hanging around for most of the third quarter and were within 67-57 until a 12-0 blitz, including five points by Durant and four by Harden, pretty much settled the issue.
Ryan Hollins did go nose-to-nose with Durant after taking a charge, and Joey Graham fouled Durant hard on the Thunder's next possession. But none of that slowed Oklahoma City, which closed out the quarter on a 19-1 run against the backups.
"The guys off the bench have to come in with a little different attitude," Scott said. "Like I said, I've got to find a combination that can help us."