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OKC Thunder finish 2018 on high note – 3 key takeaways

By Tamberlyn Richardson

Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Paul George, Jerami Grant, OKC Thunder (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Thunder bread and butter is defense

Clearly this OKC Thunder squad perform at their best when they excel defensively. What the win over Dallas highlighted was just how easy the offense flows and how dangerous the Thunder can be when the defense is functioning up to their standard.

In the win, the key notable defensive stat was the 29 turnovers OKC forced. Not only did these turnovers generate 36 points but it put Dallas in a situation where they couldn’t establish any flow in the game. Conversely, the Thunder turned over the ball 10 times but Dallas only scored 5 points off those miscues.

Plus this wasn’t an isolated case as OKC leads the league in points scored off turnovers. The other areas the Thunder displayed in this win was their rebounding (especially on the offensive glass) and their steals both also categories the Thunder ranks first.

The OKC Thunder have a clear identity and it all ties to the defense. Even their best offense stems from the defense or to put it another way, the Thunder offense flows at it’s optimum when it is created from the defense.

With so many teams searching to establish an identity it’s yet another winning scenario for OKC since they already know precisely who they are.

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