Back when Chet Holmgren was injured for the entire season without even debuting his options Oklahoma City Thunder they seemed to disappear instantly. Another year the plan sam presti must wait. His intentions to attack the Western Conference would again be on hold. All this with the latent risk of wasting a caliber talent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, in which much of the franchise’s hopes rest. However, this 2022-2023 something has ended up happening, to an extent, amazing as well OK C is on his way to be present at play-in and consequently to Playoffs.
But to get to this point, the Oklahoma City Thunder had to go through their own special development process. After the first 30 games on the road, Mark Daigneault’s men were third from bottom in the Western Conference. Far from the Texas abyss, but equally removed from immediate contention for postseason berths. Slowly and quietly, OKC climbed the rankings. Steady growth, no false steps, made possible by a blend of defensive excellence and brilliance from two names, SGA and Josh Giddey.
The Canadian is a true scoring machine, capable of becoming the third player in franchise history at this location to amass 40 or more 30-point games in a season. An All-Star at last with a practically infinite battery of resources with the ball. For his part, the Aussie is equal parts cerebral and intuitive, very rare to see. A double-digit assist and scoring machine who has served as the perfect counterpoint to Gilgeous-Alexander.
SGA (31 PTS) spins for the tricky floater 🔥
Thunder lead with 1:05 left.
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While, defensively, Oklahoma City has flown almost unnoticed by most of the league. In general, the team is ranked as the 10th best overallallowing opponents 112.7 points per 100 possessions.
However, yes Half a field He can be an inconvenient enemy.
And it’s that according to data from Cleaning the Glass, a tool that eliminates garbage minutes, OKC is the fourth-best team in static defense, conceding 95.2 per 100 shares to the opponent. Their weaknesses are balance and second chances, but if the game slows down it’s better not to have them in front of them. The lack of size explains their poor performance in some areas, although it is a virtue in that it allows them to be much more homogeneous. Figures like Lou Dort, Kenrich Williams or newcomer Dario Saric are key to stay behind.
Lu Dort seals the win for the Thunder on a TOUGH defensive possession.
Lock 🔒 pic.twitter.com/kEXXRB180J
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Since 2023 started, only three teams in the western conference they have won more games than the OKC Thunder, who have one remaining 20 wins for 15 losses (57.1%). All of this pushed them down to sit 10 games from the end of the Regular Season in seventh place.
The most positive for the interests of Mark Daigneault’s team lies in its calendar, the second most accessible in the NBA, which can invite it to dream. Just a half game behind sixth place Oklahoma wants to dream big. In their favor is the fact that they have won the tiebreaker against the Clippers and Mavs, are ahead of the Jazz, tied with the Lakers and have against the Wolves and Warriors.
Youth and desire go hand in hand and The Oklahoma City Thunder are in for a surprise this season, confirming the potential of his project and returning to the Playoffs just two seasons later.
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