Thunder 113, Magic 108: The Day After Report
Recapping the Thunder's win against the Magic on March 17, 2026.
Nuggets & Notes
- SGA singlehandedly willed OKC to a win in the third quarter. The MVP scored 19 points in the frame and turned a 7 point deficit into a 6 point lead.
- With the win, Oklahoma City Thunder has officially clinched a playoff spot.
- OKC is the first team to earn a guaranteed playoff spot this season. This is the Thunder's 13th playoff appearance since 2010. That's #2 in the NBA.
- OKC has won 9 straight games. Danny Wolf is the only thing standing in the way of a double digit victory streak.
- Orlando had won 7 straight games. Then the Magic had to play the 9-game win streak Hawks and the 8-game win streak Thunder on back-to-back nights. SGA's cousin dropped 41 on the Magic on Monday. SGA dropped 40 in Orlando on Tuesday. What do the Alexander cousins have against Disney World?
- Having Ajay Mitchell back just completely revitalizes the bench minutes when SGA sits.
- Mitchell, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, Jared McCain, Aaron Wiggins and Nikola Topic is a ridiculous embarrassment of of bench guard riches.
- Very fortunate Isaiah Joe didn't get really hurt when Desmond Bane went flying on the ground for a loose ball and took out OKC's sharpshooter out at the knees.
- Chet Holmgren threw a Dunk Party to open the second quarter. Chet had 3 dunks in 2 minutes, including 2 alley oops from fellow big man Isaiah Hartenstein.
- Holmgren seems to get hit in the face once per game. But not tonight. Instead, Chet got blasted hard in the one place he probably would've preferred less than his face.
- Alex Caruso blocked a shot with his shoe.
- I was today years old when I learned that blocking shots with shoes is not legal and results in an automatic bucket and a technical foul. But it looked cool and hilarious.
- Orlando closed the second quarter on a 23-6 run. OKC closed the third quarter on a 15-2 run. Magic opened the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run. OKC responded with 8-0 OKC run.
- The Thunder iced the game with a 7-0 run to flip the score from 99-96 to 106-96. Orlando ended the game with a meaningless 6-0 run in the final few seconds. Very runny game.
- Isaiah Hartenstein had 8 assists and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes.
- Hartenstein has yet to score in the 2 games since returning to the OKC lineup and yet he's been one of the most impactful players in both games.
- Mark Daigneault has 12 successful challenges in a row. No idea what the record is, but I am sure that Wilt Chamberlain owns it.
- OKC chants broke out in Orlando at the end of the game. Lots of Thunder fans in the house tonight.
- Congrats to the Brodie: Russell Westbrook moved to #5 on the all-time NBA assists list on Tuesday night. Westbrook trails only John Stockton, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and LeBron James.
One Key Takeaway: Copy-Paste Shai
There was no end-of-game suspense this time, but SGA's dagger gave OKC a 102-96 lead with 3:11 to go. Thanks in part to Shai's game-sealing steal, Orlando never got within 5 after that until Desmond Bane's three-pointer at the buzzer finished the game 103-108.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20+ points for the 129th straight game.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40+ points for the 6th time this season.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a clutch time stepback 3-pointer for the 200th (approximately) time this season.
Mr. Consistent, indeed.
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