OKC Thunder takeaway No. 3) Hustle on defense is the key
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When the Thunder started to come back in the second quarter it was their defense that stepped it up a level. The Suns’ offense appeared unstoppable in the first quarter but then could not buy a shot in the second.
Luguentz Dort is a born hustle player and collected several charges on the night. SGA had two blocks on the night and one of them was a tremendous hustle play.
A Suns player had faked out Hamidou Diallo in transition and was about to put the ball in the hoop for an easy lay-in.
SGA had pushed hard to get back and instead of it being an easy bucket, he blocked it out of bounds, allowing the Thunder to set up their half-court defense. The Thunder also hustled on every defensive switch to make sure that there were no easy, open shots.
The Thunder are doing all the little things, diving on loose balls, getting into passing lanes and getting deflections and the like.
It’s plays like these that make the Thunder difficult to put away for opposition teams.