ESPN “SHOCKED” Thunder defeated Grizzlies 124-93; Gilgeous-Alexander 23 Pts; GG Jackson 30 Pts

ESPN “SHOCKED” Thunder defeated Grizzlies 124-93; Gilgeous-Alexander 23 Pts; GG Jackson 30 Pts

Well the got out to a strong start in this one and did not look back thank to some high powerered offense and some sharp defense the Thunder with a dominant wire-to-wire win for the seventh time this season continuing their nine game home streak here inside

Of pcom Center what a Sunday what a city night inside of this building as we welcome you to Thunder live postgame I’m Paris Lawson sitting next to my broadcast partner here Roy young and Roy what a great game here for the Thunder for a multitude of reasons one it was

Just a dominant wire to wire win but there was a lot of discipline in this game and it really showed up and their ability to put themselves in the position to knock down the three the way they did tonight what was your number Paris that you just told me 10 different

Players knocked down at least one three-pointer for the th I me that’s impressive right there and that just that demonstrates a number of different things one the ball movement the ball’s touching so many players different hands but also just the diversity of attack that this team has it’s so many

Different players set up so many different players and that’s one of the things that I think is very unique about this group especially offensively is how many players can assist other players it’s not one player that the Thunder are relying on to generate those looks from

Three and that’s how you get that kind of balance we’ve talked a lot about the thunder as a balanced scoring team but when you can balance out from the perimeter like that man who do you cover I mean like how do you guard that there’s so many different attacks coming

At you that’s a really tough thing to handle it’s all about dilemmas right the Thunder is one of the the best teams in the league at getting downhill headlined of course by Shay gildas Alexander but this season they’re League leaders in three-point shooting percentage so that

Puts Memphis in this sort of dilemma of am I going to take away the paint or am I going to take away the three-point line and clearly Memphis made their decision tonight and again Memphis has been a top 10 defense for a lot of the Year even with all the injuries that

They’ve had they’re still a well- coached team that scheme well and the Thunder really just broke them down throughout this one like you said peris so much of the Thunder have led the league in drives the last four year and what is directly connected to that it’s not coincidental that Shay gildas

Alexander has individually led the lot league and drives for the last four years and so when you’re touching the paint in that way it just creates that space and balance on the perimeter and when you get these kind of Rhythm shots we talk about a lot how volatile

Shooting can be but when you’re in Rhythm you create these types of nights where the ball starts flowing and it starts going in the basket at a high rate yeah the Thunder able to take advantage of that here tonight with a dominant W victory over the Memphis

Grizzlies all right let’s bring in Chris fiser and Michael cage who are on the call for us tonight and get their perspective yeah thank you Paris the Thunder have had a lot of impressive victories on the season most recently you had the one on Friday night against

The Miami Heat and then tonight Michael in a different way this was wire to wire you could feel the energy that the Thunder wanted to play with early on and I thought you brought up a good word in that they were intentional because they were combining the pace of the game but

Also decisiveness and once they got out to that lead the shots were flowing the Rhythm was flowing and they really never looked back well you’re right partner and I like what pis Lo talked about when you knock down those threes from the outside side and Roy kind of you know

Chimed in with it as well it opens up the floor pick your poison and and obviously you know you know the grizly said of Rec just going to pack the paint and you know you got to make some shots from the outside well guess what the thunder made those shots from the

Outside they were very efficient with those shots from the outside 36 assists off of 49 made uh field goals tonight and that was a concern you know uh with with at halftime from the coaching staff talking about getting out to those Shooters well guess what they cut off

The water supply for the grizzly the grizzly had nine uh three made in that first half just two in a second on Wednesday the Thunder Playa depleted Portland Trailblazers team that was a tough game went deep into the fourth quarter Mark dnel kind of referenced it before the game tonight the Thunder

Going up against a depleted Memphis team but a little bit different outcome this was all OKC from the start yeah you could tell that they had a mission and they were setting a tone from the outset of this game Chris and Mike thank you so much we’ll be with you a little bit

Later in the show and Roy I got to get your perspective on this cuz there was also a lot of pace in this game game it seemed like and and it start of starts of course on the defensive end but what was your perspective of how the Thunder

Was able to play with Pace in this game well the Thunder are one of the better transition teams in the NBA and a lot of that is exactly what you said Paris is because of their disruptive nature but when you’re not taking the ball out of

The basket the other team can’t go get set up on the other defensive half court it really just creates that ability to run the floor and the Thunder again they turn teams over at an incredibly High rate because of their disciplined defense but when you get those stops and

You get those long rebounds and you clear the ball and you just the have to get it and go they can get it in almost anybody’s hands and they can create a fast break and that’s that’s a unique thing that this group has and this team

Got out to a strong start in this game talk about Pace well the Thunder got it going in the first three-point line and in the fast break and this is to coach dagnal point which he talks about so often finding different ways to win games right some games are going to be

Wrestling matches like we saw against the Miami Heat on Friday and tonight it’s going to be about generating quality looks from behind the arc and the Thunder did just that able to knock them down tonight yeah for anybody that out there that thinks that the Thunder rely upon the three-point line I think

The last two games now combined against the Heat that’s 18 total free throws for the thunder in those two games and they’ve had obviously an incredible offensive explosion in this one but then also out executed a very good defensive Miami Heat team so again like to your

Point Paris this is a Thunder team that can really break you down in a variety of ways and what is great about that is that is sustainable at different levels of the game and whether that’s in the regular season whether that’s beyond you need different pitches you need the

Ability to attack teams in different ways and that is such a great thing to train over these 82 games yeah you can’t be a predictable team because those teams well they’re easy to Scout and they’re easy to defeat all right let’s send it over to The Press Room now where

Thunderhead coach Mark dagnal is addressing the media Nick Gallow casy Thunder uh Mark before the game Cas uh used the phrase that you guys needed to be the first team ready have that mindset um given kind of the state of where Memphis was what did you think about the way that

Your team team was able to actually have that um in a in a meeting with a team that was really banged up yeah I mean you see games every night in the NBA where A team’s banged up or a team with a a lesser record knocks off a team with

A better record um and so I never take for granted when we give that kind of energy output uh and it was from the jump the first group did a great job of establishing a tone in the game uh on the defensive end on the floor first of

All and with our Pace offensively I thought those guys were really on the gas uh and everybody that went in the game especially in the first half uh stayed to that guys will make threes that are tough ones but did it feel like especially early all the ones that you

Got were really in Rhythm sustainable looks um yeah I thought our attacks were for the most part pretty good I thought you know when we moved it and played inside out tonight we got great shots you know at The Rim Some Cuts some transition and obviously a lot of Threes

But a lot of quality threes was Josh an example that looked like he came out really scoring re rebound assisting he was really aggressive yeah I thought his Pace to start the game you know that whole group was energetic but he especially was on the gas to start that

Game and it really amplifies his playmaking when he plays with that kind of force you know because now all of a sudden um he’s collapsing the defense and his his vision and his instincts can take over uh I thought he was competing to start the game defensively so I

Thought um the whole group did a great job of setting a tone but he was definitely a catalyst in that group when you got a big lead like that do you have to kind of make sure guys don’t wander cuz you had the game control pretty much

The entire way just to make sure they kept kept them doing the things you want him to do I guess yeah I mean we want to be an uncommon team you know and that that you know is is how you play if you’re an uncommon team you know you got

To play the next possession in front of you independent of what the score is and um we’ve made a pretty good habit of that uh throughout the season and in the past few years but it’s hard to do it you have to um overcome human nature and

I thought most of theight we did that tonight Mark I know you’ve been getting asked about Josh all week he had a relatively good week um but I think back to to that first quarter um obviously it’s one thing to have him you know getting adjusted to floating around

Cutting the the stuff you’ve been trying to get him to do but the the couple drives where he kind of moved guys out the way with his shoulder and just finish at The Rim just how reminiscent did that feel maybe the the the player that people got used to in his first

Couple years yeah I mean I thought all week and and at different times this season it hasn’t just been this week um he definitely was downhill tonight he played with great force um they had smaller guys on him he can use his strength and his size in those

Situations not only to drive and finish but like I said it amplifies his playmaking cuz it collapses the defense and that’s where uh he can really ignite us and I thought he found a nice balance in the first quarter in his first stand especially of you know playing with

Great force and then taking what the defense gave him more of a niche question but we I think we talked ear in the year just about what that might what what might be the next step for him um and you kind of disarmed the idea that maybe that would be creation maybe it’s

He’ be more of a second side guy um I just wonder how much of a welcome side that is to to see him you know maybe putting the ball on the floor more in that fourth quarter having the room to do that and and you know breaking guys

Down off the dribble yeah I think you know part of that is uh seeing how he’s developed with the second side stuff and with the secondary playmaking and uh attacking Closeouts he makes really really good reads in those situations um and so if he weren’t making good reads

In those situations we wouldn’t be putting the ball in his hands like that but he’s he’s kind of checking that box a little bit and so uh he’s intriguing with his playmaking the thing that’s most intrig is you know he’s going to compete and so he’s going to get himself

On the court you know so you know that’s a player that’s going to be out there and so it’s worth the investment you know to give him the ball a little bit that’s going to be a huge part of uh his summer you know in the off season as he

You know finishes his first year he’s going to have to uh be in those situations and and get comfortable in those situations it’ll only help uh his closeout play and his secondary playmaking the stuff that he’s already doing now but I was very impressed with

Him tonight you know in terms of um the gas he played with than the balance he was able to play with despite having the ball in his hands that much inter with the athletic we talked about Lou a couple days ago but I’m just curious your thoughts on just like the

Percentage of his shots like he’s shooting over 40% I think he’s top 50 and made threes this season um is there anything specific you would attribute that to I mean obviously we’ve talked about like shot diet but is there anything else specific about this season for him I mean what’s underneath the

Shot diet is a committed player you know he’s very committed to taking a step forward uh with his efficiency and doing what he needs to do on offense to help the team be successful he walked into Oklahoma City out of the summer with that mindset and he was driving that car

You know that wasn’t us you know with a sales pitch um and so he did a great job of reflecting on all the he had positive career to this point I mean he’s been a very good player but reflecting on where he can improve uh and then implementing

That and executing it and now sticking with it you know and he’s been a huge part of uh why we’ve been as good as we are offensively because he’s played a very very tight role he’s made great decisions with his shot Drive reads at The Rim finishing uh and he’s really

Complimented uh our team out there and still stays aggressive inside of uh his role and so I give him a lot of credit you know he’s done it all year but um like I said he’s a huge part of why we’ve had the offensive season we have

He’s been excellent I just one of your thoughts on on Hayward and just tonight and then just his overall like getting more comfortable with the team yeah I was saying before the game you know I always try to evaluate what your trajectory a players on you know they

Are they on a positive trajectory or a negative trajectory and um he’s had a he’s on a pos positive trajectory right now you know from uh I think the Laker game you know he had some nice pop even in the the late part of that game we were down but those minutes were

Valuable for him and then he continued that momentum Portland played really really well against Miami especially defensively uh and played well again tonight so he’s on the upswing and um we’re excited to keep seeing what he can bring to us following up on Cas he seemingly hasn’t had very many of those

Rookie moments or rookie mistakes can you just talk about what the most impressive Parts have been about him this season because he’s really just you guys are on a marathon and he’s just kind of kept pace with a lot of your guys probably that you know he just has

A maturity about him as a competitor um you know he he competes every night you know it’s it’s gone under the radar because of all the other things going on with our team but this is a very young player that’s able to play 20 minutes a

Game almost 18 to 20 minutes a game in a pretty significant role guarding pretty sign ific opponents um you know despite a lack of experience you know he just has an unbelievable competitive maturity to him and um gives us a lot of confidence to stick with him when he’s

He’s not I thought in the Miami game he played uh you know uh he was off base in the first half in terms of what he normally brings uh but you go back to him in the second half because of the body of work he has as a competitor and

How much trust he’s built as a competitor um and like I said with the creation stuff you know he’s going to be on the court you know he’s going to earn his way on the courts and now it’s like all right what else can he do out there

For us and he’s another guy all season been on a great trajectory he’s done a great job K Wallace been on a great trajectory all season long as as a all of these guys really on the Thunder roster that explains why these guys are performing the way that they are but for Kason

Specifically a career-high 22 points for him and we just never see him get rattled but we know that he’s growing and he’s going through adversity here and there but he just continues to take steps forward in his game I think back to his first game it was that game in

Chicago and he shows up I don’t remember what he hit he started out five of five or six of six or whatever it was for his career and I was like wow I guess K wall is never going to miss a shot in his NBA career but it’s just interesting how

Poised he was in that opening game on the road in a huge Market I mean the Chicago bus I’m sure K Wallace grew up thinking about playing in NBA arenas and he shows up in his first game and does that and then you just see the progression of him Paris who over his

Career in all these games so far and as coach Mark was talking there about him becoming more of a playmaker more of a score off the dribble and we’re seeing right here the handles that he has to get into the paint make these plays early on in his NBA career he was kind

Of a spot-up shooter he was a three and D guy and already just in this short period of time and his inside of his rookie season we’re seeing this Player Development happened which is really cool because K Wallace from then he was a good good good asset to help this

Thunder team on opening night and now what we’ve seen him progress to even better you know coach dagnal says he’s such a great anticipatory player on the defensive end but I have to imag that Anticipation fore Spe Foree speee spe spee Foree fore fore Fore fore foreign speee Spee speech foreign spee [Applause] foree fore foree fore speee for Fore Speee foreign spee fore Speech fore speech again spe Foree spee for Spee fore speeech Foree fore spee speee foree Fore foree foreign fore speee spee Spee fore spe Spee speee spee fore speech Spee foreign spee Foree speee for

ESPN “SHOCKED” Thunder defeated Grizzlies 124-93; Gilgeous-Alexander 23 Pts; GG Jackson 30 Pts