Thunder 100, Mavericks 87: The Day After Report

Box Score | Play-by-Play

The Oklahoma City Thunder left Dallas with a 100-87 win, and if you only looked at the score you’d assume this was comfortable. It mostly was, as OKC led for virtually the entire game and built a lead as large as 22 points, but it never really felt like the Thunder dominated an injury-riddled, inferior opponent. Alas, a win is a win.

Nuggets & Notes

• The first quarter told you everything about the talent gap. Dallas grabbed a brief early lead, but once OKC settled in, the separation was obvious. The champs dropped 36 points in the first and led by 11 after twelve minutes of action.
• At about the 5:21 mark of the first, Chet Holmgren gave Dwight Powell a pump fake that will give Powell nightmares for years to come. Chet literally pumped Powell out of his feet.

• Overall, Holmgren continued his solid play. The DPOY leader had 2 swats, 2 steals, and 9 rebounds to go with his 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
• Not long after, Jaylin Williams found Isaiah Joe with a slick feed that led to an easy dunk. The chemistry these two have is something special. More on that later.

• But the play of the game was SGA's highlight poster dunk. We just don't see this kind of aggressive slam from Shai. He's a cool cucumber, a smooth operator, but when he detonates, boy you better get out of the way.

• Shai finished with 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, 5-of-6 from the line, four steals and five assists in 33 minutes. Another night, another efficient 30. The 20+ point streak lives on.
• Meanwhile, the Thunder offense as a whole? After that first quarter it was, to put it mildly, not great. The team shot just 21% from three despite getting great looks.
• The saving grace: OKC took care of the ball. Just nine total turnovers, and Dallas coughed it up 17 times.
• Dallas’ roster, with a lengthy injury list, looked exactly like what it was—a collection of role players trying to make the most of the moment. And credit to them, there were some nice moments from players like Caleb Martin and Max Christie.
• On the other hand, the grizzled vets did not have a great night for the Mavericks. Khris Middleton tried to shoot himself into relevance, but only managed 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting. Klay Thompson scored just 7 on 3-of-8 shooting.
• Jared McCain continues to look like he belongs. The former 76er scored 11 points on 5-of-11 in 22 minutes. The scoring instincts are real. Dude deserves minutes.
• Isaiah Joe had 38% of every three pointer converted by the Thunder, and was the only player to convert more than 1 on the night. The secret to Joe's shooting might actually be receiving a between-the-legs pass from Isaiah Hartenstein. I'm pretty sure he's 100% this season on those kinds of setups. as he
• Cason Wallace quietly dished eight assists with just one turnover. While he didn't score, Wallace's offensive impact continued.

One Key Takeaway

This was one of those games where Oklahoma City didn’t play particularly well offensively—21% from three, shaky at the line, stretches of stagnation—and the outcome was never in doubt.

Without SGA, I'm not sure the vibes would've been the same, but having the MVP around is like Pepto Bismal for an upset offense. He just calms things down and makes the uncomfortable, comfortable.