OKC Thunder grades – Heat sweep season series

Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:

I could’ve gone with Mike Muscala in this spot since he led scoring off the bench. Instead, Kenrich Williams got the nod for the myriad of things he does on the court.

As per usual he offered a bit of everything with six points, seven rebounds, and an assist. Those seven rebounds were critical in a game missing Al Horford and tied Lu Dort as the team-high on the glass.

He also had the best plus-minus of the team with a minus -3.

The more Thunder Nation gets to see him the more appealing retaining him becomes since he fills a necessary role of a quality two-way player with a wide skillset and above all, plays the game with a clear emphasis on ‘team’ first.

Best opponent performance:

Bam Adebayo is the template for what every NBA club hopes their young bigs will develop into (just add in a 3-point shot). He does it all on both sides of the court and on a night when both teams were fatigued and searching for offense, he provided (even more than Butler) the spark and production for Miami.

He delivered a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds (3 offensive boards) plus dished five dimes, a steal and got to the line six times (making five).

Yet, Bam does so much more than what the box score shows whether it be body-jarring screens, deflections, or help defense.

While Jimmy Butler may be the vocal leader of the Heat, Bam epitomizes what a Heat player is, and like SGA he is the cornerstone of the Heat future.

More from Thunderous Intentions

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• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

In closing:

With this being a back-to-back set it’s understandable the player’s minutes needed to be monitored. However—- the Heat were worn out from finishing a long seven-game road trip but they had three starters (Adebayo, Nunn, Robinson) on the court to start the fourth quarter.

In contrast, the only OKC starter on the court was Maledon with Diallo, Jackson, Williams, and Muscala. And, they weren’t on there for a few minutes for Shai to get a quick two-minute burn. Rather, they played for over four minutes (4:21 to be exact) until SGA, Lu, and Baz checked back in.

That felt like a “scheduled loss” to me.

Two key stats stood out in the loss:

• OKC had ZERO fast-break points
• 18 turnovers led to 27 points for the Heat

You can view the full box score here.

The Thunder gets a well-deserved day off and is back in action on Wednesday when they play host to the San Antonio Spurs. Tip time is 8:00 p.m. EST and 7:00 p.m. CT.

Of note, the last four games San Antonio was scheduled to play were postponed due to four Spurs players testing positive for COVID-19. As of now, this game is still expected to proceed but that could change.