Thunder 105, Nets 86: The Day After Report

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Nuggets and Notes

• A short-handed, competent Thunder team took care of business at home against a tanking opponent. No surprise, but the easy win was a relief in the wake of the injury news from the day before: OKC will remain without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell for 1–2 more weeks (each) at minimum.
• The Thunder got off to a predictably slow start on offense, shooting 27% from the field and finishing down 23-21 in the first quarter. Without SGA, Ajay, and JDub, there will be ugly half-court stretches even as the last men standing in the backcourt move the ball and assume more shot responsibilities.
• But some playmaking momentum started to build with some energetic, crafty play from Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Joe to close the quarter. J-Will hitting Kenrich Williams for a backdoor cut was a flashpoint for a smart, veteran Thunder team creating quality looks against Brooklyn's young, dumb defense the rest of the way.
• The Thunder defense was active and about 70% as discombobulating as it is at full strength. And in the second quarter, Brooklyn looked anything but combobulated. They scored 10 points (Joe had 10 in the quarter all by himself), made 3 shots, and turned it over 8 times.
• Brooklyn was truly abysmal from three, going a jaw-dropping 7-41. That's the kind of downward variance from deep we're used to seeing from Oklahoma City.
• The teams were pretty even on the possession battle, and were more evenly matched physically. The Thunder built such a huge margin by 1) making their threes and 2) converting their second-chance and fast-break opportunities.
• One thing that has been stabilizing a bit despite the injury woes: with all of Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein (10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks) and J-Will in the rotation, OKC isn't getting beaten up on the boards.
• Chet was solid and steadying in the first two quarters, scoring 12, before a quiet second half. He had 15 points and 7 rebounds overall.
• Jared McCain handled burying duties, scoring 19 of his team- and season-high 21 points in the second half, 10 in the final frame.
• Another night, another trick-or-treat J-Will drive. He keeps drawing fouls at more than double the rate of his career. His .276 FTr would've bested Jalen Williams last season, for a point of reference.
• Nikola Topic played another eye-test-clearing short stint. 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 12 minutes.
• Topic is going to draw a lot of Josh Giddey comparisons, which isn't a horrible thing for a rookie establishing himself as a legitimate NBA player. While he may have some overlap in his skillset and athletic profile with the Thunder's former good-but-not-good-enough lottery point guard, he's not the same player. Whenever he can hit threes and finish drives, like he did tonight, is an open but hopeful question through 24 career minutes.
• Michael Porter Jr. has been shooting like Dirk this season, but he cooled off against OKC, needing 16 shots to score his 22 points.

One Key Takeaway: If healthy

70% of the Thunder's best punch is enough to beat the bottom of the Nets by twenty. It might be a different story soon. Their next four games are all against playoff competition, and the fate of home-court advantage—both in the West and overall—is precarious. But I'm as sure as ever at what I'm watching: an incredibly deep championship team, with a very low floor and a very real chance to blow out their opponent every night.

The biggest question of the NBA playoffs is not whether anyone can match up with the Thunder. It's whether the Thunder will be healthy. If the best players suit up for OKC, they will have the advantage against almost every lineup, top to bottom, in the entire playoff field.