Thunder 129, Jazz 125: The Day After Report

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Nuggets & Notes

• The good news: OKC won!
• The bad news: it took a herculean effort from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to survive the Utah Jazz.
• Shai was ridiculous: 46 points on 14-of-26 shooting, plus 6 assists and zero turnovers (!!!). The Thunder probably get steamrolled if not for the MVP.
• SGA was questionable coming into the game, and I think the only thing questionable about his health was whether he's fully human.
• It looked like the Phoenix Suns game all over. Oklahoma City flexed early, built a big lead, and let it evaporate. After Lauri Markkanen grabbed the rebound off of Walter Clayton Jr.'s missed shot (blocked by Aaron Wiggins) and converted the putback to put the Jazz up by two with 3 seconds left, three straight losses felt very real.
• But back to Shai. A cool, calm, and collected SGA used those final seconds to get to his spot in the midrange and swish home a buzzer beater to force OT. SGA then poured in 9 more in the extra period to save the Thunder from itself.
• The Jazz are pitiful on defense. It felt like the perfect antidote to OKC's struggling offense.
• It was not.
• The Thunder shot 44% from the field and 18% from three (and went 1-18 in the second half + OT). I don't think the lid on the basket is proverbial anymore. There might be an actual lid on the basket. Someone call maintenance.
• Honestly, without the Thunder attacking the basket and getting to the line, this game looks very different. The Thunder took 42 free throws (to 21 by the Jazz). The +18 point differential from the free throw line saved OKC from its inability to shoot from deep.
• Chet Holmgren deserves some love as well. Chet was excellent defensively, swatting 3 shots while notching a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
• It's obvious that Holmgren put work into his body in the offseason. He is clearly stronger in the paint. One possession that demonstrated this to me was his running dunk with 4:35 to go in the first quarter. I don't think rookie year Chet is able to do that.
• Ajay Mitchell was assertive on offense. The 6MOY candidate was not shy and provided much needed punch to the flailing offense (16 points, 5 assists).
• Branden Carlson impresses me defensively. I'm not sure there's a better player on the roster who stays grounded and doesn't bite a bump fakes.
• Coach Mark Daigneault is in full tinker mode. He's started Aaron Wiggins the last two games. After the game Daigs said that Wiggins has been showing pretty good pop lately, and with Alex Caruso out, he wanted to Wallace to be that kind of defense-first guy off the bench.
• More on the tinker-mode: To close the fourth quarter, Mark went with the big three + Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins. To close OT, Mark went with the big three + Ajay Mitchell and Lu Dort.
• Kenrich Williams only played 8 minutes, and somehow still ended up +11. I just love every Kenny Hustle minute. My favorite moment of the night for him is when he converged on Markkanen late in the first and stone-cold stole it right from his hands. It was rude, and I loved it.
• Rebounding was bad (see one key takeaway, below), but how fitting that the Thunder won this because Chet had a monster offensive rebound and putback dunk to give OKC a lead it wouldn't relinquish with 29 seconds to go in OT, and then SGA flew in to secure the absolutely critical defensive rebound off the Svi Mykhailiuk missed three on the other end.

One Key Takeaway

The offense is a problem, but I want to talk about rebounding again. The Thunder continue to get murdered on the boards. I don't think it's about effort either–it's about bodies. I see team effort to get defensive rebounds, but despite the effort, OKC cannot stop giving its opponent extra possessions.

The rebounding was so rough, in the second half SGA was clearly going all out to get defensive rebounds himself. That fourth quarter + overtime was Shai realizing he had to do it all (score, pass, defend, and rebound) if the Thunder was going to survive the lottery-bound Jazz.

Thankfully, OKC has the best player in the NBA to save them, but it's not sustainable.

On the Daily Thunder Podcast yesterday, my main moment was dialing in to just how much the Thunder are missing Isaiah Hartenstein (and Jaylin Williams). Those two are some of the best rebounders on the team, and without them, it's a struggle every night to limit defensive possessions.

So, I think the rebounding woes have a cure on the injury report, but until Hart and J-Will come back, the Thunder has to figure out how to get rebounds, or we'll have to keep talking about OKC struggling.