By Nick Gallo | Broadcast Reporter and Digital Editor | okcthunder.com
Shai’s Big Jumper, Playing Opposing Bigs off the Floor, Cason’s Outside-Inside Attack and more!
The Drive and Dish is here to answer the questions that might be going through your head during a Thunder game by providing experienced insight, highlighting aspects of the game you might have missed and pulling you behind the curtain with anecdotes, analysis, and stats.
Here’s what you need to know as the Thunder wraps up its longest road trip of the season with stops in Indianapolis and Charlotte to take on the Pacers and Hornets.
Hard-Fought Back-to-Back on the East Coast
Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, on the road in Philadelphia amid a highly anticipated return to the floor for 76ers star Joel Embiid, the Thunder managed to not only stay in the game but take charge of it in the second quarter and through most of the third period. In the fourth, the Sixers were able to rack up trips to the free throw line while the Thunder committed a few too many turnovers. Still, in the closing seconds OKC had three good cracks at a three-pointer that would have tied the game but didn’t quite connect, falling 109-105.
In the game, second-year center Jaylin Williams battled Embiid all night and registered a career-high 12 assists by operating the offense out of the high post, dishing out to shooters, handing off for drives and dropping passes to cutters. Williams’ development, plus his growing ability to play alongside Chet Holmgren on both ends of the floor is an emerging factor for the Thunder as it assesses all its options heading toward the postseason.
“It speaks to the kind of guy he is. He’s an extremely unselfish guy,” Holmgren said. “It shows up in the way he plays on the court and it shows up in the way he helps lead our team off the court and outside of games.”
“It’s great to have somebody who sees the court as well as he does,” Holmgren added. “It opens up a lot for everybody else on the floor… There were more plays than just the 12 assists that showed up on the stat sheet where he quarterbacked our offense and got things flowing.”
One night later, the Thunder traveled to Boston to face the league-leading Celtics, who already clinched home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs but sealed its 60th win and the best record in the league for the season with a 135-100 win over the Thunder.
OKC kept the game against the juggernaut Celtics in check for most of the night, but without Gilgeous-Alexander and JDub the margins were thinner. The Thunder slashed Boston’s lead to just 5 in the third quarter and were within just a few possessions in the fourth quarter before Boston burst out on a massive run to close the game.
Shai Calls Game, with a Familiar Play
There’s no such thing as a perfect game in the NBA, but that’s why the Thunder focuses on playing as hard as it can and being as poised and resilient as it can be for the entire 48 minutes. Often, those factors can override the imperfections throughout the game. That was exactly what happened on Easter Sunday in Madison Square Garden when the Thunder kept itself within striking distance all night long, giving itself a shot with the game on the line.
With 4.1 seconds left, the Thunder put Josh Giddey on the sideline to inbound the ball and ran a play that’s worked all season long to get a good look. Isaiah Joe and Lu Dort exchanged out top on the right side of the floor, while Gilgeous-Alexander set a back screen for Jalen Williams who cut backdoor through the middle of the lane to the rim. The Thunder got a layup from Aaron Wiggins on that same cut to send a game against the Raptors into overtime earlier in the season, but that pass wasn’t open this time. Instead, Giddey found Gilgeous-Alexander peeling off the that cut towards the left corner. Shai caught the ball, turned over his right shoulder and splashed in a fadeaway jumper to give the Thunder a thrilling 113-112 win.
Playing Burly Bigs off the Floor
Throughout an NBA season, any good team is going to see a wide variety of defensive looks, and part of being a high-level team is being able to sort through all those coverages and come up with counters. One of the strategies the Thunder has seen is cross-matching with bruising, rim-protecting centers sagging off some of OKC’s guards in order to hang around the rim and not get left hanging out to dry against Chet Holmgren in OKC’s five-man-out style as the Thunder rookie has been able to hurt opposing bigs by his ability to create off the dribble and knock down open threes.
The Thunder has figured out different ways of attacking the alignment of opposing bigs, from cutting actions, screening and putting them in pick-and-rolls on the ball, and the result the last week has been OKC playing those big men off the floor. In New Orleans, the Thunder forced the Pelicans to go small and keep Jonas Valanciunas on the bench for the entire second half. The Phoenix Suns’ couldn’t get much out of Jusuf Nurkić, who only grabbed three rebounds in over 20 minutes of action and didn’t get much action in the second half. Using quickness, hand discipline and physicality, the Thunder has been able to neutralize some opposing bigs.
When those bigs have exited the game in favor of a smaller lineup, the Thunder has been able to feast on lobs over the top to Holmgren for high percentage buckets.
Cason’s Perfect Night from Three Fuel Bench
While there are still six games remaining, the Thunder has a chance to end the season with a remarkable occurrence – its two rookies Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace could potentially play all 82 games in the first year in the league. Even at this late stage of the season, in the third game in four nights and without Gilgeous-Alexander in a battle with an All-Star-laden Suns team, Wallace was a standout performer last Friday night.
The number 10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft shot 4-of-4 from the 3-point line on his way to 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. Even with those 3s raining down, the highlight play of the night came from Wallace’s developing playmaking off the bounce, as he attacked with a sizzling inside-out dribble that wiped away his defender for an easy bucket at the rim.
Looking Ahead
On Friday night the Thunder will take on the Indiana Pacers for the 2nd time this season. One of two remaining Thunder Friday Nights, this game will be broadcast locally for free via antenna on KSBI Channel 52 in OKC and 6.3 in Tulsa. Sunday night’s game in Charlotte will be aired on Bally Sports Oklahoma. Both games will also be available on the radio on WWLS 98.1 FM the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network. Follow along on our @okcthunder social accounts and stay here on the Thunder App or okcthunder.com.
