Record: 38-9
OffRtg: 116.5 (6) DefRtg: 104.2 (1) NetRtg: +12.3 (1) Pace: 100.5 (8)
The Thunder blew a 14-point lead at Golden State on Wednesday, getting clobbered in the second half. But they returned to do the clobbering against the Kings over the weekend.
Three takeaways
- The loss on Wednesday was just the Thunder’s third (they’re 37-3) in a game they led by double-digits, their first (after 25 straight wins) since Nov. 19. They still rank as the best defensive team (8.7 fewer points allowed per 100 possessions than the league average) in the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, but they allowed the Warriors to score 68 points on 49 possessions (1.39 per) after halftime.
- With a 36-31 opening period against the Kings on Saturday, the Thunder haven’t lost the first quarter in their last 12 games. For the season, they’re a plus-19.0 per 100 possessions in the first quarter, easily the best mark for any team in any period.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 13 points in the first quarter on Saturday, but Aaron Wiggins (starting in place of Jalen Williams) finished with a career-high 41. Wiggins (true shooting percentage of 58.7%) has seen a big drop in efficiency from last season (66.4%), but has been a big part of what would be the best bench (aggregate NetRtg of plus-6.7) in the 29 seasons of play-by-play data.
The last time the Thunder saw the Bucks, they got crushed in the Emirates NBA Cup final in Las Vegas. They scored just 81 points on 97 possessions, their worst offensive performance of the season by a huge margin. The first of two meetings that count toward the regular season standings is in Oklahoma City on Monday when the Thunder will have a rest advantage. They’ll be at a disadvantage in Memphis over the weekend, Game 2 of their second (and final) stretch of five games in seven days.
Week 16: vs. MIL, vs. PHX, vs. TOR, @ MEM