Player grades from the Thunder’s final preseason game

The final game of the preseason was a step in the right direction for the OKC Thunder.

We didn’t know what to expect from the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. Was Melbourne United’s physical play stopping them from finding an offensive rhythm? Or was the chemistry of the OK3 really going to take more time than we expected?

After tonight we can firmly say that progress is being made, but there’s still 82 games of work to be done.

The Thunder recorded a preseason high 24 assists and 22 turnovers in their final preseason game. After relying on heavily on iso ball against Melbourne they focused on distributing the ball to their various weapons. Here’s a few plays where the offense looks like they’ve been playing together a couple years and not a couple weeks.

Even more impressive was the effort on the defensive end. The Thunder held Denver to 86 points on 34.1% shooting from the field. Steven Adams clogged up the paint and OKC’s wing defender locked up the perimeter, forcing the Nuggets to take contested jumpers all night. And Oklahoma City grabbed almost every one of those missed shot.

With Carmelo Anthony in the starting lineup rebounding was a question mark for this team heading into camp. For most of camp they’ve done a solid job, but tonight solidified the’ll still be a top ten rebounding team this season. The Thunder outrebounded Denver – the second best rebounding team last season – by 10 tonight. Josh Huestis, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George all had at least nine rebounds; the Thunder’s athletic wings are going to make up for their lack of size down low.

Overall tonight was a great way to end the preseason. You’ll see the grades will reflect that.