Nuggets and notes
- The Thunder lost in painful fashion, dropping their second straight home game to the Raptors after leading the Raptors for most of the fourth quarter.
- Poor late-game execution failed the Thunder, as the team struggled to get Shai Gilgeous-Alexander opportunities to score or make Toronto pay for passing him. SGA managed just one clean shot in the entire fourth quarter, and the other Thunder players missed 12 of 19 in the final frame.
- Some low points in the performance: a missed free throw by Shai, Scottie Barnes blocking Chet Holmgren’s attempt to score the tying goal in the final minute, and Barnes outrunning Jaylin Williams for an offensive rebound to seal the game after Toronto had a missed free throw.
- Over the past two seasons, OKC has survived long stretches while coming up short in the frontcourt. They are still short in the frontcourt: Isaiah Hartenstein is still out with a calf injury, and both small but big forwards Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso remain out with a hamstring and groin injury respectively. But Ajay Mitchell is now injured, so the Thunder frontcourt is also being decimated without Mitchell and JDub behind SGA.
- Toronto was aware of this decimation and outplayed Shai all game, forcing Aaron Wiggins and others to play against a tall, fast Raptors defense that was scrambling to recover. Shai attacked selectively (8-11 FG, 8-10 FT) and deferred to his teammates (6 assists, about 600 potential assists), who did quite well at creating healthy looks all night (more on that later).
- In their tenth loss of the season, the rotation was different, but the problem was familiar: the Thunder just couldn’t convert their good looks. OKC went 11-43 from deep. OKC generates the 3rd most wide open shots of any team in the league, but has the 9th worst eFG% on those shots.
- And it wasn’t just about who took the photos. Isaiah Joe and Wiggins combined for 2-16 from three, and Chet was 0-3.
- The Raptors found just enough daylight on offense, turning OKC’s defense from frenetic and suffocating to disciplined and competent (especially when Cason Wallace left the game with another injury). The Thunder forced just 11 turnovers while giving up their usual 12 offensive rebounds.
One important conclusion: blame injuries
Whether you want to call it an excuse or an explanation, Oklahoma City won’t continue to win 80% of its games without Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Ajay Mitchell and Alex Caruso all missing.
The Thunder are currently in worse shape than they were in the first half of last season, when Holmgren’s hip injury coincided with Hartenstein’s extended absence. OKC has held its ground on defense despite its poor roster, but its offense has dropped. Their ORTG of 108.6 against the Pacers and Raptors would be the second-worst in the NBA.
They could have won. If they had, I would have written a recap praising Kenrich Williams’ influence on the scrappy, shooting-challenged Thunder. Overall, OKC proved able to move the ball and find quality shots despite the lack of creators. Even Ousmane Dieng served as a touch-pass cog in the non-SGA machine, tallying four assists. But Kenrich and Dieng combined to go 2-10 from three, and those scrappy Thunder went 1-10 from deep throughout the fourth quarter.
Whether a specific play or substitution decision would have gone differently and changed the outcome of this game, the biggest takeaway is that OKC needs its best shot makers and top shot makers back if it wants to become the best team in basketball.
#Thunder #Raptors #Day #Report