Oklahoma City Thunder berhasil merebut keunggulan 2-1 atas San Antonio Spurs dalam seri Final Wilayah Barat NBA Playoffs setelah meraih kemenangan 123-108 di Frost Bank Center pada Jumat malam waktu setempat.
Tim tamu sempat tertinggal 15-0 di awal kuarter pertama sebelum akhirnya bangkit melalui torehan 76 poin dari barisan pemain cadangan mereka untuk membalikkan kedudukan.
Akurasi tembakan luar biasa dari bangku cadangan menjadi pembeda utama dalam laga ini setelah mereka melesakkan 37 dari 47 tembakan tiga angka yang didapatkan Thunder sepanjang tiga pertandingan pertama seri ini.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander menjadi motor serangan utama dengan mengemas 26 poin, 12 asis, dan dua papan pantul tanpa banyak melakukan kesalahan sepanjang pertandingan.
"We have a really good basketball team. 1-15 can really play at the highest level. … No surprise for us, we know what we’re capable of," ujar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Pemain cadangan Jared McCain turut menyumbang 24 poin, diikuti oleh kontribusi penting Jaylin Williams yang mencetak 18 poin serta Alex Caruso dengan raihan 15 poin.
Pelatih Oklahoma City Thunder, Mark Daigneault, langsung berfokus mempersiapkan taktik lanjutan setelah mengevaluasi rekaman pertandingan malam tersebut demi mengamankan kemenangan berikutnya.
"We had a great win last night, and you just know Game 4, you’re going to have to really earn it if you want to go get that game, and so the gears just start turning on that," kata Mark Daigneault, pelatih Oklahoma City Thunder.
Daigneault juga memuji ketangguhan mental anak asuhnya yang tetap tenang dalam menghadapi tekanan atmosfer pertandingan tandang yang sangat intimidatif.
"It’s hard to win playoff games on the road. As you saw last night, that took all of our best punch to win that game the way we did last night. And it still wasn’t easy despite the fact that it was a 15-point win. It’s challenging. You don’t graduate to it. It’s going to be just as hard (Sunday) night," tutur Mark Daigneault.
Evaluasi ketat juga dilakukan oleh tim lawan karena mereka mengalami penurunan efektivitas permainan saat bintang utama mereka diistirahatkan di bangku cadangan.
"We can’t play him 48 minutes, so you can’t lose by 20 in those minutes. There’s a combination of who are we playing, what are we running, what’s the game plan during that time, and I’ve got to make sure I help that group, and the group when Victor’s in there has to be better, too," ucap Mitch Johnson, pelatih San Antonio Spurs.
Strategi pertahanan berlapis yang diterapkan oleh Thunder terbukti berhasil meredam agresivitas Victor Wembanyama di dalam area pertahanan bawah ring.
"Vic creates our advantages for us more than anybody else. That’s very easy to observe. The way we execute those advantages throughout the season has been with our three guards (De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper) mostly with the basketball in their hands. Just being blunt, those guys aren’t 100% right now. So we have to adjust while not changing how we play but understanding how we can continue to take advantage of those things. … We have to continue to evolve and that’s what goes into being in a chess match and they’ve done some good adjustments," jelas Mitch Johnson.
Pertandingan keempat antara kedua tim dijadwalkan kembali berlangsung di San Antonio pada Minggu malam pukul 20.00 waktu setempat.
