The Risky Adjustment That Worked: GAME 5

OKC brought back something we almost never see.

Everyone will look at this game and say OKC shut down Wembanyama.

But the interesting part is how they did it.

Because for most of this series, Wemby has created impossible decisions. Put a small on him and he punishes you with lobs and rebounds. Put bigs on him and help too much and open shooters. Stay home and he attacks size in space.

In Game 5, OKC decided they were willing to live with almost anything else if it meant changing Wembanyama’s game.

And what was fascinating was some of the ways they did it. They stayed attached to him in actions, even pulled out a “Boston” style coverage we really never see. Last time we saw it was last year’s playoffs when Minnesota was trying to solve Jokic.

In this breakdown I go through:

• How OKC changed their defense
• The adjustments that limited Wemby’s impact
• Why some of San Antonio’s offensive choices may have actually helped OKC
• And the counters I think the Spurs can use in Game 6

This is why I love the playoffs. Seven-game series. Great players. Great coaching staffs.

Problems. Counters. Adjustments happening in real time.