OKC Thunder vs. 76ers – big positional advantage for home side

Key Stats:

It’s still early in the season but there are notable stats from the few matches played to offer insight into areas the OKC Thunder will need to focus on.

Scoring: Through two games the Thunder are struggling to score averaging 88.5 points ranking 29th in the association. In contrast, the Sixers rank 12th scoring an average of 113 points in their two matches.

Cleaning the glass: Despite their length, the 76ers are struggling on the glass ranking 29th for  41 total rebounds per game (41).  More concerning is their offensive boards where they rank dead last ith 5.5 per game. In fairness, the absence of Andre Drummond has played into these early takeaways as well as Ben Simmons not being active.

OKC ranks 23rd averaging 44.5 boards through two matches. The Thunder are faring much better on the offensive glass pulling down 11.5 rebounds tying them for seventh-best in the league.

Where are the dimes? Both clubs are having issues with playmaking and points generated off ball movement. They possess the exact same assists per game average of 20.5. The only good news is there are four other teams with fewer assists per game through the early season.

Differential: We’ve heard Mark Daigneault state the key to this season is constant growth. And while the team may struggle to find an offensive flow they need to do better defensively. Through two games they rank 29th offensively and 25th defensively. However, in the key category of differential, the Thunder are dead last with a gaudy net rating of minus -25.5 points.

Intangible areas: With such a young athletic team the Thunder should be looking to take advantage of that factor. While they get a ton of offensive rebounds and can force turnovers they aren’t generating enough points off those areas.  Through two games OKC ranks 23rd for points scored off turnovers, 20th for fast break scoring, and 24th for second chance scoring in spite of those offensive boards.