Grizzlies: The Day After Report

Oklahoma City hosted a short-handed Memphis team without Ja Morant and, despite its own absence from the deep rotation, still made the night a stress test that the Grizzlies could not survive. The Thunder caused chaos, survived size differences and rode Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a victory that pushed them to 26-3 ahead of a Christmas mini-series with San Antonio.

Final: Thunder (26-3) def. Grizzly Bears (13-16), 119-103

• If you follow the NBA on Twitter (someone stop me please), you might think that the recent ejection of Chris Finch has cracked open the officiating matrix itself. Finally – according to the internet – someone had a hissy fit protested so loudly that the referees might start calling fouls on the Thunder.
• Watching this game takes away that fantasy. Oklahoma City makes a mistake, but get away with it is not their defensive strategy. The strategy is aggression with discipline. Relentlessly legal and disruptive positioning, hands everywhere and maddening anticipation of where the offense wants to move the ball. The limbs of OKC’s demons extend from behind the cell bars of the rule book. They gave Memphis another hellish nightmare, turning the Grizzlies into a season-high 23 times.
• Brandon Carlson started at center with Isaiah Hartenstein (rest/return-to-play), Jaylin Williams (hamstring) and Chet Holmgren (late scratch, hip tightness) all out. Alex Caruso (ankle) also sat out, leaving OKC underpowered And without its best-equipped small-bigs.
• The result looked a lot like Thunder did early in the 2024-25 season: Jalen Williams in the middle for long, scrappy stretches that the Thunder won by taking the ball away before their taller opponents could shoot or rebound it.
• Despite the size issues, I knew Memphis would struggle without their best point guard. Vincent Williams was truly missed. Without reliable guards, access passes became an adventure.
• The deception is almost cruel. Oklahoma City has no traditional bigs. Memphis had no pressure relief from the guard. The obvious answer is to go through Jaren Jackson Jr. to hit the post, but the Thunder often refused to let the ball get there. OKC is turning indoor play into a risk-reward proposition. Get high percentage shots and second chance opportunities, or a completely empty possession that fuels the Thunder transition machine.
• Carlson was cemented as a perpetually late help defender, glued to Memphis’ biggest and slowest offensive player in his minutes. Zach Edey’s absence made the mismatch survivable: Jock Landale doesn’t have the same inner presence. Carlson continued to shoot well enough to hang around: 3-of-6 from three, shooting 50% or better from distance in the seventh straight game.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored an expert 30-plus. That work, as always, meant the Thunder superstar didn’t have to hide in defense. He helped the group of Thunder guards advance, sweep and rebound all night long.
• Shai had some uncharacteristically sloppy passes and finished with five turnovers (well above his average of ~2.2 per game).
• He also extended his streak to 100 straight games with 20+ points, and is now 27 behind Wilt Chamberlain for the longest streak in history.

One key takeaway: Forgot the winning record?

I got really excited about the win record, especially since SGA and JDub were openly staring at history. On the one hand, a game like this is a reminder that OKC has the kind of depth and coaching-plus-effort combination to make every regular season game winnable for the Thunder. They can steal pieces and even entire games while top rotation players rest. It doesn’t have to be a campaign for this team to burn your energy and luck to maximize the total number of wins.

On the other hand, it’s also a reminder that Mark Daigneault will always experiment and develop, even as the team utilizes his depth with conservative rest and injury management. Daigneault coaches at the opposite end of the regular season spectrum from Tom Thibodeau (who maxed out his best players and units every regular season night). Thunder players want to win every possession, every game. Their coach wants them to learn how to win every game friendly of ball possession and play, even when playing at a clear disadvantage. I don’t care how well the Thunder can gain Carlson minutes because I don’t want them to survive Carlson minutes in the postseason. However, it’s Daigneault’s job to worry about that, especially when the team holds the No. 1 pick.

So yeah, the winning record is extremely unlikely after the two recent losses. It was always very unlikely. But we already know this team can win some regular season games. What matters is whether they can win more postseason games next spring, against any type of matchup.