Well, that sure was fun! What a great way for this “resiliency’ era OKC Thunder squad to close out the first half of the schedule! Make no mistake THIS was a statement win.
Among the four most difficult games to win is the last one played prior to the All-Star break. And the Thunder didn’t just win it, they did it shorthanded, on a back-to-back set.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t have another 42-point career-high game and Luguentz Dort didn’t hit a thrilling buzzer-beater — but this win was arguably the more satisfying of the two and ranks at a minimum in the top three to this point in the season.
Much like the full team effort that led to a victory over the Hawks, the youthful core were all exceptional individually while also functioning as a cohesive unit.
Most impressively, the Thunder who fell behind by as much as 14 points never quit. OKC held a three-point lead after the first quarter but coughed up a 37-23 second quarter leading to an 11 point deficit at the half (61-50).
While the Spurs were the club on a day of rest, it was the Thunder who pounced coming out of the half delivering a 31-23 effort trimming San Antonio’s lead to a single basket. The final frame was more of the same as OKC registered another plus eight differential (26-18) to complete the comeback and collect their 15th win of the season.
With that let’s dive into the grades from the match