The Thunder Lowdown: A Weekly Deep Dive | Week 3

Week 3 was full of plenty of ups and downs for the Oklahoma City Thunder. After a historic 7-0 start that featured a 12-point or more margin of victory in each game, OKC finally dropped a 2-point decision to the Nuggets in Denver on Wednesday. At home, they dominated Orlando on Monday and Houston on Friday, but they lost in two ways on Sunday night with Chet Holmgren going down with a bad injury before OKC lose the game to Golden State 127-116. Still, there were plenty of positives to take away from the week of four games, so let’s dive in.

5 Things I Loved About Week 3

1. The Thunder hit shots even though Shai had a somewhat quiet night | If the Thunder wants to be successful longterm, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cannot be the sole reason. OKC is at its best when everyone plays defense at a high level, and if that happens, then usually the offense follows suit in some form or fashion. SGA can put up 30 on any given night, but sometimes that’s not enough. When he’s not able to get into a groove by putting up a bunch of points, the Thunder has to figure it out anyway, and that’s what they were able to do against Orlando last Monday. Shai still scored 21 points, but Jalen Williams led the team with 23, and Chet Holmgren (14 points), Isaiah Joe (13 points) and Aaron Wiggins (11 points) all had solid contributions in a low-scoring game. OKC is going to need that to win consistently.
2. Solid bounceback win after Denver loss | After the close loss to the Nuggets in Denver, the Thunder needed to come back with a renewed energy as they hosted a young and gritty Houston Rockets squad two days later. After the first quarter of that game, it was all tied up at 31-31, and it looked like it might be another night to be decided in the final seconds. OKC made sure that wasn’t going to be the case, however, as they jumped on the Rockets in the second quarter to take a 75-51 lead into halftime. The lead grew to 29 in the third quarter, and the scoring margin was never closer than 19 points as the Thunder closed out the game 126-107. That’s exactly how you bounce back from a disappointing loss.
3. OKC showed some fight despite losing Chet and trailing by 30 | Chet Holmgren went down early in the game on Sunday against the Golden State Warriors, and it didn’t take long for the Warriors to start running away with the lead. Right before the end of the third quarter, Golden State was up by 30, and they led by 28 to enter the fourth. OKC went on a wild run to cut it down to 6 with about 5 minutes left, but they were unable to complete the full comeback. Still, it was incredibly refreshing to see that level of fight from the Thunder when they were legitimately playing with no real big men. The game didn’t end in a win, mostly because Steph Curry couldn’t miss, but OKC definitely learned a lot about what they’re capable of doing, and that will pay dividends down the road.
4. Isaiah Joe’s consistency | After not scoring in double digits for the first four games of the season, Isaiah Joe has now hit that mark in 6 consecutive games. In the last week, he shot 12-of-29 (41.4%) from downtown, knocking down 3 threes in each of the 4 games. He’s probably going to see plenty of more opportunities moving forward, and his ability to knock down those shots is going to be key to OKC’s success.
5. The ascension of Ajay Mitchell | Early on, I criticized Mark Daigneault for playing rookies a bit too much. Ajay Mitchell has now appeared in all 10 games, averaging 14.4 minutes per game, and he’s played close to 20 minutes in the last two outings, scoring 12 points in each game. He’s already looking like Sam Presti’s latest 2nd round draft steal, and it could not have come at a better time for the Thunder.

4 Things I Hated About Week 3

1. Chet’s injury | As soon as Chet hit the ground after trying to contest an Andrew Wiggins drive early in the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors, I knew something was wrong. A couple of minutes later Holmgren had to be helped off the court to the locker room, and when there was no specific injury update in postgame media, it was pretty evident it was something more serious. It didn’t take long for the announcement of his fractured right iliac wing to come out. OKC is going to miss him for at least the next few months, and it’s hard not to be disappointed and even concerned about the season moving forward.
2. Draymond Green acting like an idiot | Some people never seem to change, so I don’t know why I’m even surprised when Draymond Green does something stupid on the court. Towards the end of the Thunder’s big 4th quarter run, Green managed to get himself tangled up with Lu Dort before throwing himself wildly around and hitting Dort right on the head. The result of the play was a defensive foul on Dort and a technical foul on Green, which still doesn’t seem like the right call, but regardless, I’m so over seeing Draymond Green trying to turn basketball games into MMA fights.
3. Shai’s final shot selection against Denver | SGA had a decent night against the Nuggets, scoring 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but he turned the ball over 8 times. Meanwhile Jalen Williams put up 29 points of his own to go with 10 rebounds and 9 assists. I definitely think putting the ball into Shai’s hands at the end of the game is a good move, but he settled for a less than ideal shot that ended up getting blocked when he could’ve pulled up for his signature mid-range look or even found JDub for an alternative shot. I’m sure he’s learned from it, though, so again, sometimes you have to lose in order to learn, and I see that making a difference in close games down the road.
4. Alex Caruso’s inconsistency on offense | A lot of fans are upset about Caruso’s inability to hit shots with some even saying we never should have traded Josh Giddey for him. I understand the frustrations—Caruso managed to make just 5-of-22 attempts from the field this last week—but we picked him up more for his defensive abilities than for his offensive production. His impact on the defensive end so far cannot be denied, but he’s definitely going to need to start hitting some shots. While I didn’t like what I saw this last week, I have full faith that he will bounce back and have a better week ahead.

3 Highlights I Liked From Week 3

1. Chet’s block on Tristan da Silva | The Magic had a fast break opportunity last Monday as Tristan da Silva caught a pass and went up for a reverse layup. Chet Holmgren made an incredible defensive play as he initially went for the block with his right hand before adjusting to use his left hand for the block. The ability to make that play while avoiding a foul is just a part of what makes Chet so special on the defensive end, and OKC is definitely going to miss that while he’s out.

No entry 🙅‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/DkapEoQRfp

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 5, 2024

2. Ajay Mitchell steal leads to an Isaiah Joe 3 | Mitchell’s impact while on the court is undeniable, and it’s plays like this that make it so obvious. Against the Rockets on Friday, Mitchell grabbed a steal from Steven Adams and found Isaiah Joe wide open for a three, giving Mitchell his sixth assist of the night.

High energy all over the court 🔌@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/LMQxGpLDpR

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 9, 2024

3. The 4th quarter run against the Warriors | It’s hard to pick just one specific clip from that late run against the Warriors. OKC was all but out of the game, but instead of packing it in for the night, the Thunder kept battling back. A big deficit can only be overcome one play at a time, and so the Thunder went to work knocking down shots and backing it up with tenacity on the defensive end to give them a chance. Despite the loss, the ability to make the game interesting, let alone close, was a lot of fun to watch.

Bringing the energy as a unit 🔋 https://t.co/0B6pnPRpJ9 pic.twitter.com/SPdE7juXt6

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 11, 2024

2 Things I’d Like to See in Week 4

1. Figure out how to win playing small ball | OKC faces perhaps one of their biggest challenges in recent seasons as they have to figure out how to play with basically no true front court players for at least the new few weeks. Chet is out for a while, and Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylen Williams are still a few weeks away from returning. The Thunder have played plenty of small already this season, a lot of it with great success, but that was less out of necessity and more out of experimentation. Now it’s really the only option moving forward, so hopefully they can figure some things out quickly and grind out some wins until guys get healthy.
2. Business as usual | Chet Holmgren was well on his way to being an All-Star and even a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Those hopes are gone with his injury, but the Thunder’s hopes of a successful season cannot be thrown out the window as well. The best thing OKC can do moving forward is continue to play defense at a high level, make adjustments as needed, and try to keep things as close to the norm as possible.

1 Bold Prediction for Week 4

1. Now is the time for Ousmane Dieng to step up | Dieng is the Thunder’s closest thing to a big man right now, and while that’s not really his ideal position, he’s likely going to have to play it some. I really think he’s a key piece to OKC’s future success, and there’s no time like the present for him to step up and start having an impact in an area where the Thunder desperately needs help. I think he’s going to have some opportunities sooner than later to show off some of his progress.