{"id":32113,"date":"2020-07-18T09:25:50","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T13:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=32113"},"modified":"2020-07-18T09:25:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T13:25:50","slug":"oklahoma-city-thunder-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/07\/18\/oklahoma-city-thunder-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Contenders or Pretenders: Oklahoma City Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> have spent the past week in the bubble preparing for the final eight games of the season. With a playoff position guaranteed, Oklahoma City will look to juggle line-ups and test different combinations before hitting the post-season.<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder have enjoyed a four and a half month break largely drama free. Defensive stalwart <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/roberan03.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Roberson<\/a><\/strong> has navigated through two years of injury setbacks to finally reach full health. All appears to be positive in Roberson&#8217;s return to the NBA if Thunder players and staff are to be believed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thunder on Roberson roundup<br \/>\ud83d\udde3<\/p>\n<p>Diallo: Great having Andre back. His leadership is big.<\/p>\n<p>Gallo: He looks great.<\/p>\n<p>Schroder: He\u2019s still got it. He can help us a lot.<\/p>\n<p>CP3: Playing with Dre is the best thing ever.<\/p>\n<p>Donovan: He looked really good. It\u2019s inspiring to see him out there.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrandonRahbar\/status\/1283219544199303168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>However, Oklahoma City received its first set-back with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/schrode01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dennis Schroder<\/a><\/strong> set to miss the rest of the regular season and potentially the first week of the playoffs. The German native&#8217;s wife is scheduled to give birth within the next month or so.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dennis Schroder says his wife is pregnant and due in &quot;three of four weeks.&quot; He says he&#39;s &quot;for sure&quot; going to be leaving the bubble and joining her for the birth.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Royce Young (@royceyoung) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/royceyoung\/status\/1283198293070295040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While this will affect Oklahoma City from a basketball point of view, this is absolutely the right decision. A timetable for his return to the bubble is yet to be determined but the German guard is looking to make arrangements with the franchise. There is optimism he can return in time should pregnancy run its full course.<\/p>\n<p>On the positive side, the Thunder were fortunate to breeze through the hiatus without a single COVID-19 case. The team is back together and will look to recapture the momentum it had prior to the break.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Oklahoma City Thunder: Contenders or Pretenders?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Strengths<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4><strong>Three-Guard Line-Up<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The combination of Dennis Schroder, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a><\/strong> is the most successful three-man line-up in the NBA. The trio have a staggering 127.1 offensive rating, 98.6 defensive rating and a whopping +28.6 net rating when they share the court. Better yet, the Thunder hold the top five three-man line-ups who have played at least 50 games.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OKC have the 5 best 3-man line-ups in net rating across the NBA (min. 50 games).<\/p>\n<p>1. CP3, Schroder, SGA +28.6<br \/>2. CP3, Gallo, Schroder +21.2<br \/>3. CP3, Schroder, Adams +18.7<br \/>4. Schroder, Adams, SGA +17.7<br \/>5. Schroder, Gallo, SGA +16.2<\/p>\n<p>6. Giannis, Lopez, Matthews +15.8<\/p>\n<p>That&#39;s nuts. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sV3tDreQQT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/sV3tDreQQT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eagle Moneyball (@geola388) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geola388\/status\/1282266413348958208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As seen by the graphic, the sixth best line-up comes from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/milwaukee-bucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>, featuring <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/matthwe02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wesley Matthews<\/a><\/strong> and, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brook Lopez<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In crunch time, the Thunder are even better. They hold seven of the top 10 three-man line-ups in the fourth quarter with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gallida01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Danilo Gallinari<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adamsst01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Adams<\/a><\/strong> making an appearance.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OKC have 7 of the top 10 3-man line-ups in the 4th qtr<\/p>\n<p>1. CP3, Schroder (DS), SGA +35.1<br \/>2. DS, Gallo, SGA +29.8<br \/>3. CP3, Gallo, DS +27.2<br \/>4. CP3, DS, Adams +22.5<br \/>5. CP3, Adams, SGA +22.4<br \/>6. CP3, Gallo, SGA +21.1<br \/>7. DS, Adams, SGA +20.2<\/p>\n<p>8. Mitchell, Ingles, O&#39;Neale +13.6<\/p>\n<p>WILD. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9Nscyzurw2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/9Nscyzurw2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eagle Moneyball (@geola388) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geola388\/status\/1282309080690745346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This will be a huge advantage heading into the post-season, especially when games get tight and palms get sweaty.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Defense<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>This may surprise many but the Oklahoma City Thunder possess a top 10 defense, ranking ninth in defensive rating (108.4). Oklahoma City is an extremely disciplined team, allowing opponents to shoot just 18.4 free throws per game, ranking second in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder are also one of the best perimeter defending teams in the league, allowing opponents to shoot just 34.4 percent from the field (fifth). Head coach <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/donovbi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billy Donovan<\/a><\/strong> employs a man-coverage defensive scheme with Thunder defenders fighting over the top or through screens.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dortlu01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Luguentz Dort<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fergute01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Terrance Ferguson<\/a><\/strong> are players with high defensive IQ, primarily assigned to guard the opposing team\u2019s best offensive players. Both possess excellent footwork and anticipatory skills, forcing ball handlers to drive into help defense. The Thunder are 13<sup>th<\/sup> in the NBA in opponent shooting percentage (45.4) and are willing to give up twos as opposed to threes.<\/p>\n<p>The sequence below shows how good the Thunder\u2019s defense is.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If Oklahoma City ever need a stop, can you imagine a:<\/p>\n<p>CP3 &#8211; Dort &#8211; Ferg &#8211; Dre &#8211; Adams line-up?<\/p>\n<p>Check out this sequence against the Raptors. You add Dre to this defensive, good luck scoring. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5HVV2khSI6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/5HVV2khSI6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eagle Moneyball (@geola388) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geola388\/status\/1282340018883710977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With Andre Roberson returning to action after two years, it will be interesting to see if he comes back even 70 percent of what he was. If he does, this defense will be one of the toughest to score on, especially in the clutch.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Weaknesses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4><strong>Rebounding<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One obvious drawback with playing three undersized guards is the lack of rebounding. Oklahoma City ranks 15<sup>th<\/sup> in defensive rebounding (34.6), 26<sup>th<\/sup> in total rebounds (42.7), and 30th in offensive rebounds (8.4).<\/p>\n<p>While this may not look like a problem on the surface, their middling defensive rebounding numbers are an issue. Oklahoma City allows 10.4 offensive rebounds per game, placing them 20th in the NBA. The Thunder have managed to mask this problem by giving up just 12.6 second-chance points per contest (10th). However, with elite offensive rebounding teams like the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/los-angeles-clippers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> in the bubble, this could become an issue.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City needs to do a better job defending the defensive glass. There is no point in playing elite defense for 24 seconds if you can&#8217;t get the rebound.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Assist Numbers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>This might surprise people but Oklahoma City ranks 28<sup>th<\/sup> in assists (21.9) and garner a lot of their points in isolation. Dennis Schroder, Chris Paul and, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are three of the league\u2019s most efficient scorers in isolation. Thus, it makes sense to have low assist numbers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This might surprise some of you but OKC rank 28th in assists this year.<\/p>\n<p>The two teams below them? The Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EIFXomY3qn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/EIFXomY3qn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eagle Moneyball (@geola388) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geola388\/status\/1283391932589170688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It could be a problem should shots stop falling, but it&#8217;s highly unlikely all three are off at the same time. We did see this back in 2017-18 when <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carmelo Anthony<\/a><\/strong> somehow all shot below 40 percent at the same time. It\u2019s unlikely but still possible.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Contenders or Pretenders?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Thunder are one of the dark horses entering the playoffs. Since the turn of the New Year, Oklahoma City posted the second best record behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>. To put these in perspective, Oklahoma City played a whopping 17 games in January that featured nine road games and three back-to-backs.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City will lean heavily on their defense and their success will hinge largely on the three-guard line-up of Dennis Schroder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul. All the numbers point to the Thunder being sleeper to knock off one of the big shots in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being a great squad collectively, NBA success is dependent upon star power. The Oklahoma City Thunder don\u2019t quite have enough power to compete with duo\u2019s like\u00a0<strong><a style=\"text-decoration-line: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Le<\/a><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Bron James<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a><\/strong> or Paul George and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a><\/strong>. The Thunder have what it takes to at least make it to the second round of the playoffs, but anything beyond that would be a surprise.<\/p>\n<p>Thunder Up!<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"gGm12J2tSndFmdOqg4Ophw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1190914654\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gGm12J2tSndFmdOqg4Ophw',sig:'gOshPcm_zLMqFNePAPtN6aH9ktpVpWCclyavFL7fEKI=',w:'594px',h:'397px',items:'1190914654',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder have spent the past week in the bubble preparing for the final eight games of the season. With a playoff position guaranteed, Oklahoma City will look to juggle line-ups and test different combinations before hitting the post-season. The Thunder have enjoyed a four and a half month break largely drama free. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3477,"featured_media":32172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1608,62],"tags":[1109,229,252,3761,3739,54,1489],"class_list":["post-32113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thunder","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-andre-roberson","tag-chris-paul","tag-dennis-schroder","tag-nba-bubble","tag-nba-restart","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"modified_by":"Matthew Waldman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}