OKC Thunder outpaced the Indiana Pacers: 3 takeaways

Except that it is a problem

Oklahoma City’s reserve players combined for an embarrassingly low 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and one blocked shot. Not a single player from the Thunder’s bench ended with a positive differential. In fact, they collectively averaged a negative differential of 6.75 per player.

For comparison, the Pacer’s reserves logged a combined 30 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, and one blocked shot with an average positive differential of 4.25 per player.

The fact that OKC came away with a pretty convincing win speaks more to good fortune than anything. Most every NBA team will experience a drop off in production from its starters to its reserve players, but the elite teams aren’t completely hampered by their benches.

The only thing keeping Terrance Ferguson in the starting lineup is his defensive ability, but even that wains thin more often than I’d like to see. In fact, if it weren’t for OKC needing someone to run the show with the reserves, some might argue Dennis Schröder is the best option to put on the floor.

Nerlens Noel is a good rotational big, but he is certainly no Jerami Grant. The addition of Markieff Morris has been anything but spectacular, while Abdel Nader often looks slightly confused and hesitant.

I would suggest head coach Billy Donovan think long and hard about how he pieces together his lineups, but I don’t believe he can do anything more to mask the deficiencies OKC’s reserves bring to the hardwood. Plain and simple, the Thunder’s rotational guys need to step up their game or Oklahoma City will be in big trouble come playoffs.