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

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Given the five takeaways it’s important to note I didn’t forget about Paul George who looked sharp scoring 23 points in 26 minutes and filled up the stat sheet (5 rebounds, 4 assists). Rather, it was more of a typical PG13 night in which his shot looked so silky it begged the question if the nets were covered in butter as his shots slithered through.

Nor did I miss the brilliance of Steven Adams who produced at an All-Star level on both sides of the floor and outplayed Karl-Anthony Towns. Sure, KAT scored 23 points, but he didn’t look dominant by any stretch of the imagination.

If there was one negative it was the perimeter scoring which remained cold (29.5 percent). That said, players tend to take longer to get their legs in preseason and shooting is the one area most affected by this phenomenon.

Clearly, extra shooting practice may be in order and hopefully as the season nears the cold spell will shift to a warmer efficiency. Still, improvements in defensive rebounding, decent free throw shooting, low turnovers and solid defense are ample reasons to be optimistic.

Moving forward, the squad needs to continue to build chemistry and show consistency in the areas they are succeeding. Next up the team will host the Atlanta Hawks in a 2:00 p.m. central time matinee in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the BOK Center.