Playoff Views: What went wrong in the Thunder’s Game 4 loss at Utah?

All season long I’ve stuck with a glass-half-full mentality. Stay positive, stay the course and things will turn out fine. Well let’s toss all that out the window. Everything is NOT fine. This is not a drill.

At this point, the panic button has been firmly pressed, and rightfully so. Monday night was ugly. Very, very ugly. We’re going to toss our Thunder Views format to the curb for today’s edition, and instead turn this into a venting session.

What went wrong? Well, basically everything. But let’s elaborate on some of the issues from Monday’s Game 4 loss. Feel free to make your own lists and vent in the comment section. Our WTLC staff will gladly join in.

1. Carmelo Anthony played 36 minutes last night. He finished with 11 points on 5/18 shooting (0/6 3FG). Jerami Grant and Patrick Patterson played 30 minutes combined. If you’re Billy Donovan, you have to make some sort of adjustment there. Melo hasn’t found a rhythm in quite a long time, while Jerami Grant brings much more productivity to this lineup. Not my favorite move by Donovan there.
2. Russell Westbrook had 4 fouls before halftime. From here on out, Russ obviously wasn’t able to be his aggressive self, doing his best to avoid his fifth and sixth fouls.
3. The Thunder were horrendous from deep. They went 5/26 from beyond the arc, missing many open looks throughout.
4. BALL MOVEMENT. OKC’s starting lineup combined for 6 assists on Monday night. 6 ASSISTS. From the 10:33 mark of the second quarter until the 0:24 mark of the third quarter, the Thunder did not have an assist. That’s 22 minutes and 9 seconds of game time without an assist. Westbrook had 3 assists in the first quarter. He would finish the night with just those 3.
5. OKC could never get it going in transition.
6. JOE INGLES IS A MONSTER. He’s +61 in the last three games when he’s on the floor. Ingles finished with 20 points on Monday.
7. DONOVAN MITCHELL IS A MONSTER TOO. Mitchell set the Jazz postseason record for single-game scoring by a rookie with 33, passing Karl Malone who scored 31 in 1986.
8. More on Mitchell — he’s averaging 27.5 points and 8.5 rebounds as a rookie in the playoffs against Russell Westbrook. That’s downright impressive and downright frustrating for Thunder fans.
9. MITT ROMNEY WAS TAUNTING RUSS. WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW??

I could honestly go on for days here, but the bottom line is things aren’t going well. Are the Thunder done? Or do they have what it takes to mount a comeback starting on Wednesday night? Give us your thoughts below.

Game 5 will be on Wednesday night at 8:30 PM CT.