OKC Thunder: 3 takeaways in Svi Mykhailiuk’s big game over the Raptors
By Ryan Lewis
The OKC Thunder were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley, and insert every other well-known and seemingly essential player on the roster as they hosted the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday evening.
Even with that being the case, it didn’t stop the Thunder, behind strong third- and fourth-quarter performances, from surging ahead of the Raptors to snap a three-game losing streak with a 113-103 win.
The Thunder didn’t need their high-profile stars to down the Raptors, but it also helped that the Raptors were without one of theirs in Kyle Lowry. This Thunder team doesn’t know how to lose, or rather, refuses to go down without a fight, even when down by double digits.
Despite Toronto jumping out to a 15-point lead in the first quarter and holding onto a much slimmer 67-59 lead heading into the half, the Thunder kept calm and hit their shots while stifling the Raptors on defense to come away with the win.
The Thunder did that behind Svi Mykhailiuk, who got the start alongside Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Roby, Moses Brown and Theo Maledon.
Mykhailiuk saw over 35 minutes of court time and was stellar for the Thunder, knocking down 64.3 percent of his shots for a team-high 22 points. But beyond Mykhailiuk, the Thunder finished the game with all nine players getting onto the board.
The Thunder’s play as a team leads TI’s 3 takeaways.
OKC Thunder takeaway No. 1) Team play sets the tone for an impressive win
If there’s one thing this OKC Thunder team has proved, it’s that you can never count them out.
It doesn’t matter that the starters are mostly unknown to anybody outside of the Thunder organization, or that they’re a young starting group with an average age of 22.4 years old, who lack the experience of the veterans they play against – they battle until the final seconds run from the clock.
The starters made 50 percent of their shots from the field, but that number would be much higher if you excluded Maledon’s numbers. Maledon shot 3-for-16 for 11 points. Where he struggled with his shot, he made up for it with his hustle elsewhere on the court as he finished with six assists, seven rebounds, one steal and one block.
But it was the team as a whole that was able to bounce back and pick apart the Raptors defense to come away victorious.
The Thunder struggled early in the first quarter but remained in sync from the midway point through the fourth quarter. When the starters were sent to the bench for rest, the reserves picked up the slack, combining for 33 points.
When players like Josh Hall, Justin Jackson and Tony Bradley struggled to find their shots, Darius Miller found success from outside, knocking down three of the five 3-pointers he attempted.
The Thunder came together as a young, somewhat inexperienced unit and took down a group of established veterans to snap a three-game losing streak.
During a season where wins don’t matter, the Thunder finds ways to pick them up and show the NBA what to expect in the coming years.