With Paul George making his first appearance since being traded to the Clippers the upset come from behind victory by the OKC Thunder dominated in the news.
With the win over the LA Clippers on Sunday the OKC Thunder extended their win streak to four games in a row. Like the wins over the Bulls and Grizzlies, this one required a come from behind effort.
What was different in this win, however, was the opponent is considered among the elite clubs in the West. Although the Clippers were playing in a back to back set and without the services of Kawhi Leonard (load management) or Patrick Beverley the victory was no less rewarding.
OKC was also missing key contributors, most notably Danilo Gallinari who sprained his ankle in the pregame warmup. This forced a last-minute lineup switch to rookie Darius Bazley who more than held his own. The wing and forward depth, in particular, is thin for OKC with Hamidou Diallo also out still rehabbing his hyperextended elbow.
Of the four wins, this one carried extra satisfaction given the players who exchanged sides and jerseys.
Post game the media outlets offered up numerous takes on the game, the return of Paul George and the keys to why this OKC Thunder team is overachieving expectations.
With that, here’s a sampling of the top stories in the news:
George’s warm welcome:
Writer Royce Young of ESPN details Paul George’s return and reception from the fans at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
"It was a break from the Thunder’s usual approach for returning players, which has in the past basically consisted of an announcement of “Please welcome back to Oklahoma City (insert player).” The Thunder generally don’t play tribute videos, but this was as close as they’ve come to one. The approach was received very well by fans."
It was a different approach which begs the question if the shift was tied specifically to Paul George or has a deeper meaning. Keeping this change in mind it’s a veritable certainty it will pale in comparison to what is bound to take place on January 9th. That’s when Russell Westbrook will make his return to the Peake and it’s, unfortunately, the only time this season he’ll appear in OKC.
The face of the future:
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Bleacher Report writer Megan Armstrong offered up the game recap with a notable hat tip to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his rapid development with the OKC Thunder.
"So far, following that M.O. has worked out for both Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. The Clippers certainly aren’t regretting giving up what they had to in order to pair George with Leonard, but Gilgeous-Alexander outplayed George.Oklahoma City has to be pleasantly surprised with just how quickly Gilgeous-Alexander has acclimated. The Kentucky product entered Sunday night as the Thunder’s leading scorer, averaging 18.6 points per game, and looks to be developing into OKC’s new franchise face.Showing out against his former team only escalates that narrative."
As Armstrong points out on this day it was the Canadian who outplayed the person he was jettisoned to OKC for in the trade package.
SGA has quickly acclimated himself to the fanbase with his uniquely graceful style on the court, intelligence, and openness to improving. Six months ago it’s hard to imagine anyone replacing Russell Westbrook on the team or within the community but the youngster has earned praise in both arenas.
Three point guard lineup paying dividends:
Following up on the ascension of Gilgeous-Alexander the other notable takeaways of late is the success the OKC Thunder is reaping from their three point guard lineup. As noted in the Thunderous Intentions article this wasn’t a strategy that was met with universal buy-in initially.
"Entering the week the lineup with the trio Danilo Gallinari and Steven Adams had logged just 45 minutes (as per John Schuhmann of NBA). That changed this week as Donovan capitalized using the trio frequently. Although Gallo was out of the lineup on Sunday the above line played has now played 86.2 minutes (almost double what they had entering the week) and own a plus 29.9 differential.Two of the top three lineups for the team feature the trio (the other replaces Adams with Nerlens Noel with a plus 22.2 net differential). And inevitably, two of them are spotted in every positive differential lineup."
Like most things of value, patience was key in the gelling of this trio. As the team spent more time together they figured out tendencies and aren’t just functioning they are dominating when they hit the court together.
In a shift from most holidays, the Thunder won’t be featured in the marquee Christmas Day matches. They return to the court on Boxing Day to play the Memphis Grizzlies for the second time in eight days.