Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook — the usual suspects — led the way from a scoring standpoint in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 4 win over the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night. But you could easily make the argument that it was Andre Roberson who was the difference maker.
Roberson picked a great time to score a career-high 17 points. There were times when it seemed like he was left all alone under the basket, and the 24-year-old didn’t think that was a coincidence.
“Definitely felt disrespected,” Roberson said after Game 4, via Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman.
After watching film from Game 2, the Thunder noticed the Warriors were blatantly ignoring Roberson and daring him to beat them. Billy Donovan responded by making more of an effort to get Roberson the ball. Donovan also told him to pull the trigger on more three-pointers if he’s open. Roberson responded by hitting 3-of-5 three-pointers in Game 3 as part of a 15-point performance. He was even better in Tuesday’s blowout win.
“I’m a basketball player, man,” Roberson said. “I can go out there and do it all.”
With his team trailing 3-1 and on the brink of elimination after a record-setting season, Stephen Curry acknowledged that paying more attention to Roberson is one of the things Golden State needs to do in Game 5.
“They made some great adjustments to get him to the right spot on the floor,” Curry said. “We gotta look at the film to figure out where our rotations are.”
Between the horrible defensive effort and the concerns about Curry’s health, the Warriors are in serious trouble. Roberson deserves plenty of the credit for that.
Photo: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
