The Thunder lost to Boston 100-85 Sunday night, then lost to Memphis 122-114 on Monday, and those defeats continued a small but troubling trend in the early season. Fourth quarter malaise in close games.
The Thunder opened the season with great fourth quarters; OKC held off the Spurs 112-106 in the season opener and scored 33 fourth-quarter points, then the Thunder scored 42 fourth-quarter points to rally against Orlando in Game 2.
But since then, if the game is close, the Thunder has wilted in the fourth quarter.
OKC trailed Houston 82-79 after three quarters, then the Rockets just made more plays down the stretch and won 110-105.