OKC Thunder comeback against Heat , Josh Giddey bounce back

OKC Thunder comeback against Heat , Josh Giddey bounce back

On today’s locked on Thunder podcast the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Miami Heat Josh giddy has a big week and is he bouncing back we’ll talk about it all on today’s show you are locked on Thunder your daily Oklahoma City Thunder podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day

Let’s get it going on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockon podcast Network your team every day I am your host me member and inside the thunderbeat rider Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter at rinor Styles follow the show on Twitter at L thunderpod email the show L thunderpod gmail.com on

Today’s show we’re diving into the Oklahoma City Thunder knocking off the Miami Heat another comeback for Oklahoma City uh and more of course uh this is going to be a kind of shorter podcast bonus podcast here talking about the heat but I did want to say that on

Friday’s show loved all the comments uh gonna have the show come out uh overnight midnight of course the 9:30 tip off the game won’t be over till midnight so like that’ll be 2 am or whatever but um you as close to midnight as possible that way you can just enjoy

The show whenever you want the show if you want it driving to work if you want it in the afternoon for lunch if you want it coming home from work if you want it at night whatever you want uh you can kind of have it there for you at

Any length of time that you want so that’s going to be kind of the schedule here on out including tonight after this Grizzlies game uh it’ll be right after the game game got moved up to six o’clock so um with the daylight saving time which is going to be crazy but um

It’ll be the same way where like it’ll come out around midnight as soon as we record it after the show after the game’s over but anyway just want to give an update on that I love doing the Stockwatch episode on Friday go back and listen to that if you want this will be

A shorter podcast talking about this Heat game but when you look at this game I think number one you saw just how much this team can succeed in the postseason because they are able to have that sense of control that sense of not panicking whenever they get down or whenever the

Other team goes on runs and they witho Miami’s run uh you know they they could not buy a bucket for stretches of the second quarter for stretches of the start of the third quarter and Miami got up by 14 points you know twice and they were 11

Lead changes there were nine ties and the Thunder still came out Victorious the Thunder won the rebounding battle the Thunder won the turnover battle 10 to nine fast break points went to OKC 12 to uh eight points in the paint go to OKC Second Chance points overwhelmingly goes

To Oklahoma City 23 to5 so like those were all um stuff like the the second chance points and the rebounds were stuff that doesn’t typically happen for Oklahoma City that happened for them in this game to combat their bad shooting night you know so this team is so

Versatile that they can they can not only stay calm but they can pivot they can pivot to a different way to play it doesn’t have to be 40% from three or bust for this Thunder team they can shoot 31% they can shoot 9% did it earlier

This week and they can they can win games they typically get beat on the glass and in second chance they were able to do that uh in their favor in this game they kept the turnovers down even as they were kind of pressing the issue to try to come

Back and I I think that even in the lineups you see that the Thunder are so versatile like they went from their starting five you know where where Chet’s the only big obviously then they went to this lineup of Gordon Hayward being the five then they went to this

Lineup of Jay will and Chad playing together so they can mix and match and and and switch and and and play Such different styles within the segments of games that it keeps opponents guessing and it allows you to eventually find something that works you you it goes back to what we

Were saying in the postseason of like why I thought this team would be good especially in the regular season is that like on any given night you know that you have a head coach who’s not going to be tied to any pregame belief in the sense of uh he’s willing to play

Everybody there are some coaches who go into a game with a predetermined rotation and they’re not going to deviate from that they’re going to go with what they’ve predetermined pre-wrote in their office before the game that’s not Mark Mark is going to to do whatever is necessary whatever the

Game kind of dictates or calls for and so when you’re willing to play everyone and when you’re willing to to try new things it’s impossible to to to not have games like this where you just flip through the roster and eventually find a combination that can spark you even

After you have a bad second quarter really bad second quarter and a slow start to the third quarter which allowed them to S their lead back up to like you know 14 points but I think that the whole time what what is what is good about the

Center team and I think that what can carry over to the postseason is that even as young as they are they just understand it they just get it when they get down big nothing about their demeanor changes but more than that nothing about their their style of Play

Changes in the sense of if if someone’s missing a shot and like they’re missing an open three if he’s open the next play down even though he just missed two in a row they’re still going to get him the basketball and sometimes you can see teams especially young teams especially

Young teams that have this other worldly player like SGA not do that and instead put it on themselves to to go do everything and to take over games and to uh you know not ball hog in the in this in the bad sense but like feel like they need to uh force

The issue because you know other guys aren’t hitting but instead just trusting each other to make the right basketball play and it eventually leads to success and then you have to talk about their defense of how their defense can turn into offense and their defense can

Cause of course easy buckets for OKC and when you get a blocker steal or when Jay will throws a shot off the glass like those things are going to naturally you know excite and ignite a home crowd and the paycom Center is rocking and rolling and it’s only going

To get better from here it’s only going to get better in the paycom Center I I fully believe people are going to want to be a part of this and you’re going to want to be a part of this too because you can see the

Joy that this team has you can see it pregame you can see it postgame you can see it during the game game they love playing together they love you know playing with each other for each other it’s either that or they’re just tremendous actors because they look like they have that childhood

Joy playing this game and not every team’s like that not every team has that sort of same camaraderie that same Brotherhood and and all those other uh catch phrases that you want to use to describe that so this was another really good win for the Thunder and I think that again going

Back to the not pointing fingers thing I mean when you’re seeing a guy like like Patty Mills just Tor you just torch you if you’re not playing he’s we the number like 88 and he’s just out there in a wide receiver Jersey going three for four from three it’s easy to get

Frustrated but they just stayed par for the course I thought that everyone did a great job on bam you know chat Jay will everyone did a great job on on bam limiting him offensively now to Bam’s credit you know bam had a bad game offensively won for nine but he still

Made a huge impact in this game he was still incredibly physical defensively two blocks a steal 10 boards six of them came defensively like he was still awesome and he still deserves a lot of credit for how he played but it was not a good offensive game from him at all

And that was in large part due to Chad and jayw and those guys Jimmy Butler had 20 and 10 on 50% shooting but I I think that this Thunder team you saw them really ban together and make another comeback and that’s why they lead the NBA and comebacks have

Double digit points and they’re just routinely doing this now clearly you don’t want to get down by double digits that’s not the goal heading into a game but it’s going to happen basketball is a game of runs there’s gonna and these teams especially as you start to play these playoff teams

Which Miami is a playoff team of course in the Eastern Conference as you start to play these games that mean more and are and are bigger they’re going to be able to hit shots they’re going to be able to get hot and get comfortable how do you react when that

Happens the Thunder react very well and so because of that I believe that this Thunder team is going to be able to go far in the postseason is going to be able to handle themselves in a seven game series because they’re also just extremely talented so if they can steal

A game or two and then they can just use their talent to win another game or two that’s a whole series right there so like this team is really really really set up to have success and it’s going to be an interesting postseason but in the course of this

Regular season there’s still a lot to learn one of the biggest things to learn about is Josh Kitty which we’re going to talk about coming up but first I want to tell you right now but good friends over at eBay Motors go there right now eBay Motors millions of ports to choose from

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Motors we’re back on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your team every day thank you so much for making us your first listen every single morning every single day we’re here for you talking Thunder basketball subscribe for free across all podcasting platforms so you never miss an episode

And again uh it’s going to start to come out from here on out midnight and and just midnight every day going to be out there for you uh of course give or take with with game endings but we’re not working around games around midnight um but none

Josh giddy I thought he played really well in this game you know nine rebounds six assists 11 points only one turnover he was one for uh three from three and five for nine overall shot 55% from the floor he was much more engaged defensively he was a fantastic cutter

One of those uh shots that he missed was a was a great back cut as a secondary action player and got the dump off and missed the layup but like that is stuff that you’re going to need to see him get more involved in and he has been more

Involved in this week and so I asked Mark about it after the game I asked J about it after the game and like they both gave rave reviews for Josh giddy you know Mark talked about how he’s seeing a breakthrough right now and he

Had a big week and that um you know this is natural for like these young players to to go through this uh this this up and down type of season and and breaking through jayd duub you know as a I asked him as a player you know who who shares

A lot of time with Josh kidy on the court you know what does it look like from your perspective on the court that looks better or fits better like what is it about this week and he talked about how you know Josh is figuring it out of

Of what the team needs from him what the team is demanding of him like in this role uh and that teams are defending josk the same way that they’ve defended him you know this season which has given him trouble in the past but this week it’s gotten better for him because he’s

Kind of understanding that role more now it’s just it’s just one good week you know so you’ve got to stack onto that and you play Memphis tonight which should be another you know a great game for Josh giddy frankly like you should be able to play Memphis and have success

So you know you want to see the stack and be more consistent but this was a really really really good week for Josh Giddy and it goes back to Stockwatch on Friday where we had a you know long form conversation about all the players on the roster when you look at Josh

Giddy for the rest of this season do not hold him to what he used to be don’t hold him to the sixth overall pick don’t hold him to uh anything other than can he be the fifth best starter and the fifth best defender on the floor at any

Given time if he can do those two things the Thunder are going to be not only able to play him but they’re going to be really good it’s whenever he you know isn’t engaged and just isn’t providing anything and just looks so bad like he

Did in some of these games you know this season and he’ll tell you that he’s had more bad games than good games this season he said as much uh in one of these press conferences like it’s it’s it’s those games that you cannot have but this week you know even in that

Lakers loss he was one of the only bright spots him and Dort were one of the only bright spots in that Lakers loss he’s been really good this week and I think that part of it you have to give credit to to you know the team and to

Josh for sticking with it I think that the team’s giving him more opportunity to to look better because they’re not using him to just sit in the corner anymore they’re using him as a screener he screened for day there G is a screener and a cutter which is going to

Be great for him offensively and then defensively to his credit he’s dug in and he’s been more active on defense which is something that is entirely in his control and something that he has to do every game like every game he has to show up and be an active Defender

There’s no excuse not to be but I think that also you know he’s a 21- year old kid and this is a new role for him and not only a new role for him like with the Thunder or a new role for him in the

NBA like this is a new role for him in his life in his basketball life like you think about the hours it takes to become a professional athlete and every hour of his life that he’s put into being a professional athlete has been spent playing one way and now he’s being asked

To be this kind of off ball uh you know play finishing type of player and it’s going to take time to to adjust and it has taken time to adjust there’s been growing pains and he’s been bad this season for this week he’s looked good enough to be the fifth best starter and

The fifth best defender on the floor and the reality is this Thunder team is so good it’s so good that’s all you need and then you can you know you can and will re-evaluate things in the summertime but for right now can he put out that level of production he has this

Week I thought the JB was awesome in in the fourth quarter with that bucket that he hit which was the dagger really heading to the rim overall 15 points five boards four assists a steal a block and 50% shooting from the floor was good for him I thought L dor made great uh

Strides and you know great decisions at The Rim he didn’t have a good shooting night from three but he was one for six from three but he still shot 44% from the floor because he made some good uh decisions going toward the rack for nine points and when you look at Isaiah Joe

Like he was a huge help Off the Bench with 10 points four for 10 from him overall again Gordon herard playing Center at times goes for four assists two boards and three points in a steal like this was a team effort I thought that Isaiah Joe and Jay will

Were the two guys that really lifted you up um you know in in this game consistently Off the Bench jayw will stuck his nose in everything he got a block off the class he got a charge he got a re you know he got seven rebounds

He got five points like he was awesome one for one from three a plus three in his minutes Joe was a plus4 Gordon was a plus 11 like all those things were huge and then you can’t tell the story of the bench without Aaron Wiggins and and I

Think that like with Aaron Wiggins you look at just the fourth quarter just that fourth quarter he comes in after having a bad shooting night for you know for him he shoots three for three from the F field one for one from three gets two boards one of them was a huge

Offensive rebound huge offensive Rebound in traffic where he kicks it out taah Joe for three and that’s how he gets his assist and a block he was a plus three on on the quarter and he had seven points in the quarter like he was one of the most

Vital players in that final frame to pull away from and beat the heat so I think that this is a complete and total team effort from Oklahoma City and you look at SGA and he says at at the end of the at the end of the press

Conference that at the end of his uh on court interview with Nick Gallo that you every in his life is consistent it looks that way because he goes and drops 37 points in this one five rebounds six assists a steal two blocks only one turnover and the interesting part about

S is that he continues to find himself in these categories of the best of the best and what I mean by that is for for this example being he’s one of those players where they can be having a phenomenal game by anyone’s standard but because watching them if you’re not

Tracking it on the box score immediately you’re like huh he didn’t shoot that well tonight you know SG didn’t he didn’t shoot that well tonight but then you go back and look and he shot 52% 52% for a guy who didn’t shoot that well in this game is pretty impressive

So uh he was awesome as well but let’s recap this game against Memphis tonight after the game is over and of course we’ll have it for you all week long un locked on thunder until time to be good and be good to one another

The Oklahoma City Thunder knock off the Miami Heat on Friday, but Josh Giddey stole headlines as he has a big week. How are the Thunder set up for the postseason? Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams deserve credit. Aaron Wiggins was awesome in the fourth. Thunder see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams get buckets.

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