Midseason form is a term that is loosely thrown around, but the Oklahoma City Thunder may be the rare team that fits the description.
OKC dismantled Orlando 102-86 and was firmly in control for most of the game despite lackluster offensive nights from most of the team. Per usual, OKC dominated on the defensive end, holding the Magic to just 35% from the field and 14% from three. It was just the latest chapter in what has been a book of defensive dominance all season for OKC. Of OKC’s seven opponents, only two have crossed the 100-point mark, which has contributed to the Thunder having an NBA-best 95.1 defensive rating.
At the crux of the defense has been Chet Holmgren and that remained the same against Orlando. Holmgren added another two blocks to his season total Monday, continuing his streak of reaching that threshold in each game so far this season. Holmgren is the unquestioned front-runner for the Defensive Player of the Year award to this point. While it is early to declare a winner, Holmgren’s dominance both passes the eye test and checks out with the advanced stats. Heading into Monday’s game, Holmgren had an NBA-best 88 defensive rating.
Holmgren and the Thunder are on a historic pace defensively, but the offensive end has been a struggle so far this season. When OKC’s offense has been right, we’ve seen what it can be. Against Portland, OKC scored 137 points in regulation. It scored 128 against the Hawks. However, there have been too many examples of poor offensive execution spanning over a full game and the game against Orlando was another one.
The Thunder barely cracked the 100-point mark and it took until the closing minutes for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to join Jalen Williams in the 20-point cub for the night.
Any complaint about OKC when it is sitting at 7-0 and has yet to win a game by single digits is going to seem like small potatoes, but at some point, a slow offense is going to come back and bite the Thunder.
That being said, it is clear that OKC knows how to generate open looks and get what it wants on offense, it is just about playing cleaner, which we know it can do, and converting on open looks. In the long term, there is no real level of concern for the Thunder offense, but it’s undeniable there have been struggles early in the season
