OKC Thunder howl in Twin Cities – 5 takeaways from dominant victory

Chemistry is clear:

There are obvious pairings and lineups which continue to display comfort with each other. The starting unit continues to showcase a comfort with one another. Schroder and Adams continued to shine and also display a cohesiveness which looked even better with Paul George back in the lineup. The trio combined to produce 49 of the team’s 113 points, 20 of OKC’s rebounds (29 if you include Patterson) and 11 of the Thunder’s 23 assists. ‘

In the pregame I noted to watch for the reserve lineup of Felton (a replacement for TFerg), Diallo, Grant and Noel as that unit performed well against the Pistons. The issue Sunday with this group was scoring, but they sure made up for it against the Wolves.

Specifically, Grant and Noel are building a nice interactive duo with the second unit offering up a clear defensive prowess with Abines and Diallo providing options on the wings. This unit looks like it could be one of the best reserve lineups in the NBA and are different enough from the starting unit to offer a different dynamic.

Unlike the game versus the Pistons, this unit produced offensively against the Wolves. Noel and Grant each scored 12 while Diallo (8), Felton (8) and Abrines (10) made for a solid cumulative 50 points from this line. Imagine if they can produce like that in season!