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The Oklahoma City Thunders two worst losses this season -- a 26-point loss to the Golden State Warriors in Kevin Durants first game against his former team last month and a 19-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night -- share something in common, and its not just that I happened to attend both of them.Those performances were also Oklahoma Citys two worst games of the season in terms of finishing around the basket. That fact has important implications for how teams defend the Thunder and MVP candidate Russell Westbrook -- who had two of his three worst games of the season by game score at Golden State and Portland -- going forward.Oklahoma City lives in the painted areaIn a league obsessed with the 3-pointer, the Thunder have never been that team, and this season -- without Durant -- they are especially anemic from outside. While Oklahoma City ranks in the middle of the pack in attempting 3s, the teams 32.8 percent accuracy ranks 26th in the league.Instead, the Thunders offense relies on beating a path to the rim. Oklahoma City takes a league-high 38.3 percent of its shots in the restricted area, per NBA.com/Stats.Naturally, Westbrook leads the charge. Only DeMarcus Cousins, at 8.9 per game, has averaged more attempts in the restricted area than Westbrook (8.8).While Westbrook is something of a volume finisher -- his 57.3 percent shooting on those attempts is worse than league average (60.2 percent) -- theyre such good shots that merely attempting them has been a good thing for the Thunder, except against the Warriors and Blazers.Packing the paint against Oklahoma CityThe combination of the Thunders non-shooting and effectiveness getting to the basket leads to an inevitable conclusion: The best way to stop Oklahoma City is to pack the paint defensively, sagging off shooters and creating extra resistance around the rim.Nobody has achieved that better than Portland did Tuesday. After the game, Blazers coach Terry Stotts highlighted his teams presence in the paint -- not just the guy guarding [Westbrook] or the screener, but everybody. I thought that was effective for us.What did that look like?In the play above, Westbrook has drawn a favorable switch, getting matched up against Portland center Mason Plumlee. But the slower Plumlee has reinforcements. All four other Blazers have at least one foot in the paint, including Allen Crabbe playing far off his assignment (Andre Roberson, a 30.4 percent 3-point shooter).With so much help behind him, Plumlee could comfortably play up on Westbrook and force him to shoot a contested jumper that the Thunder guard missed.When Westbrook did get into the paint, he found a big man in his path with enough help to recover and defend after a Westbrook pass. In this case, Enes Kanter missed a contested attempt over Meyers Leonard.Despite lacking a strong shot blocker, Portland actually has surrendered the leagues second-lowest shooting percentage in the restricted area at 55.8 percent this season. (The Utah Jazz, who host the Thunder tonight, are at 54.9 percent behind the more traditional rim protection of Rudy Gobert.)Against Oklahoma City, the Blazers were able to improve on that strong mark. The Thunder shot 43.2 percent, their season-worst mark, in the restricted area.Portland took advantage of the absence of Oklahoma City shooting guard Victor Oladipo, who leads the team with 51 3-pointers, to pack the paint more than normal. But the Warriors showed earlier this season the ability to generate similar results against a full-strength Thunder roster. Golden State did it by aggressively playing off Roberson and also conceding open 3s to rookie Domantas Sabonis, whos shot 42.4 percent from beyond the arc this season but averaged just one make per game.On the above play, for example, Draymond Green sits between Westbrook and the paint, paying little attention to his man (Sabonis) as Durant defends two Oklahoma City players while still getting in position to help.Can the Thunder beat a packed paint?Oklahoma City can mitigate the effect of aggressive paint-packing with good player movement off the ball, which makes it more difficult for one defender to handle two players.Overall, the Thunder have been reasonably effective offensively with Westbrook on the court, posting a 105.6 offensive rating, which would be good for 11th in the NBA this season. With Westbrook on the bench their offense collapses, averaging just 93.5 points per 100 possessions.Still, as the season goes on Oklahoma City can expect to see more teams following the lead of the Blazers and Warriors. Expect teams to be particularly aggressive packing the paint come the playoffs, when theyll have more time to game-plan for Oklahoma City. Already, NBA.coms John Schuhmann notes that the Thunder have the worst record of any current Western Conference playoff team against the rest of the conferences top eight, in large part because of their poor offense -- with games against Golden State and Portland factoring heavily into that.If Oklahoma City is to have success in the postseason, the team will have to find out a way to pull opponents away from the basket by making enough 3s to make them think twice about packing the paint. Air Max 97 Just Do It Blanche . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. 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After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91.Andy Murray has achieved one of his biggest successes by reaching the world No 1 ranking. Here, we look back at the most significant moments in his career. From the courts of Dunblane to the best player on planet tennis, Murray marked his remarkable rise with an eighth title of the season at the ATP Paris Masters, extending his winning run to 19 matches with victory over John Isner. Murray wins Paris Masters Andy Murray beats John Isner to win ATP Paris Masters As recently as June, when Novak Djokovic became the first man in 47 years to hold all four major titles at the same time, the Serbians lead appeared unassailable. But Murray has been imperious in the months since, winning Wimbledon, Olympic gold and five other titles and losing just three matches. Murrays magnificent year Andy Murray adds world no 1 ranking to 2016 achievements He is reaping richly-deserved rewards for an outstanding end to 2016 and there may yet be plenty more to come.It all started at the age of five for Murray when his magic with the racquet was spotted and seven years later he won the under-14 National Championships at the age of 12. Murray won the US Open juniors at Flushing Meadows In September 2004, Murray won the US Open juniors at Flushing Meadows by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky, cementing his position as the nations brightest hope.By March 2005, he became the youngest Briton to ever play in the Davis Cup. He helped GB beat Israel with a crucial doubles victory. Murray v Djokovic: Is the race won? Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic: Their previous meetings Following an impressive Queens performance, Murray received a wildcard for Wimbledon where he put on an impressive run before losing out to the experienced David Nalbandian in a thriller. Later that year he reached his first ATP Tour final in Thailand, but was stopped in his tracks by the great Roger Federer. Murray sealed his first ATP title early in 2006, beating Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt to win in San Jose After teaming up with his nemesis Djokovic in mens doubles action at the 2006 Australian Open, victory over Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt gave him a first career title in San Jose and a place in the top 50.A year later he broke into the top 10 for the first time and then reached the semi-finals of Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami. Most weeks at No 1 - 10 longest-serving incumbents: Roger Federer 302 weeks Pete Sampras 282 Ivan Lendl 270 Jimmy Connors 268 Novak Djokovic 223 John McEnroe 170 Rafa Nadal 141 Bjorn Borg 109 Andre Agassi 101 Lleyton Hewitt 80 Ahead of the 2008 US Open, Murray beat Djokovic in Cincinnati to win his first ever Masters title. That helped him gain enough confidence to go on a run at Flushing Meadows where he upset Nadal for the first time when they met in the semi-finals. Federer was a class act in the final, though, winning 6-2 7-5 6-2. Murray and Federer pose with their trophies after the 2008 US Open final at Flushing Meadows When Murray beat James Blake to win Queens in 2009, he became the first Briton to do so since 1938 and in his second major final in Australia in 2010, that man Federer once again shattered his dreams. I can cry like Roger, its just a shame I cant play like him, said an emotional Murray. Watch NOW TV! Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. The following year brought about a stellar season. In the first major of the year, he made the final of the Australian Open, losing out Djokovic before he ended the 74-year wait for a British mens singles Wimbledon finalist, but again was unable to make the next step, losing in four sets to Federer.He bounced back with a stunning 6-2 6-1 6-4 victory against Federer at Wimbledon in the Olympic final and partnered Laura Robson to silver in the mixed doubles. Murray finally claimed the first major of his caareer in a thrilling US Open final Buoyed by Olympic success, Murray reached the final of the US Open.ddddddddddddFrom two sets up against Djokovic, he was pegged back, but he found something extra to triumph in five sets. A couple of months later though, at the 2013 Australian Open, the Serb exacted his revenge with a four-set win. Murray milestones Andy Murrays greatest moments revisited ahead of the ATP World Tour Finals A week before Wimbledon, Murray claimed his third Aegon Championships trophy at Queens Club by beating Marin Cilic. And it was glory at the All England Club as he survived a nerve-shredding last game to clinch a famous 6-4 7-5 6-4 win against world No 1 Djokovic to finally end Fred Perrys 77-year reign as the last home mens singles champion. Murrays Wimbledon dream finally became a reality on July 7 2013 After a disappointing 2014, Murray returned to a Grand Slam final in January 2015 but lost to Djokovic in Melbourne. Then in May, he beat Philipp Kohlschreiber to claim his first-ever clay-court title in Munich and quickly followed that up with a stunning 6-3 6-2 victory over King of Clay Nadal to win the Madrid Masters.Murray Kevin Anderson to land his fourth Aegon Championships title before finally ending an eight-match losing streak against Djokovic to land the Montreal Masters crown. Jamie Murray, Dom Inglot, James Ward, Leon Smith, Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans pose with the Davis Cup Of all Murrays successes, guiding Britain to the Davis Cup title was the most unlikely. The Scot won 11 of Britains 12 points, including three in doubles with brother Jamie to end the year in glorious fashion. WATCH: Murray is world No 1 Sky Sports pays tribute to Britains finest tennis player... In January this year, his search for an elusive Australian Open title continued after his fourth final loss to Djokovic.Having turned himself into one of the worlds best clay-courters, Murray completed his set of major finals by reaching the decider at the French Open, but the result was familiar - defeat by Djokovic. Murray beat Raonic to secure his second Wimbledon title Just a couple of months later, Murray stamped his class on proceedings against first-time Slam finalist Milos Raonic to triumph at Wimbledon and claim his third major crown.And as part of a career-best run of 22 straight victories, he became the first tennis player to retain an Olympic singles title with a gruelling victory over Juan Martin del Potro in Rio. Murray dislodges Newk Andy Murray has become the oldest first-time No 1 since John Newcombe Murray became the 26th man to be ranked world No 1 since the system began in 1973 after reaching the final of the Paris Masters when his semi-final opponent Raonic withdrew due to injury. He went on to beat Isner in Sundays final, and will now prepare for an assault on the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, where he will look to end his greatest ever season on an ultimate high. Murrays 2016 in numbers: 8 Number of titles won 12 Finals contested 3 Murray won his third Grand Slam title at Wimbledon 2 Success in Rio brought him a second Olympic gold medal 74 Matches won 9 Matches lost 22 The longest unbeaten stretch of Murrays career came between the French Open in June and Cincinnati in August 5 Murray became the first player to win five titles at Queens Club 527 Aces 10,948,552 Prize money in US dollars (￡8.75million at current exchange rate) Well be back in 2017, but in the meantime you can follow us skysports.com/tennis, or our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: Murray wins Paris Masters The strangest feeling WATCH: Murray is world No 1 Murrays finest achievement ' ' '