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Are the OKC Thunder the best team in the NBA? Is Josh Giddey bouncing back? Beat down of Portland



Are the OKC Thunder the best team in the NBA? Is Josh Giddey bouncing back? Beat down of Portland

On today’s lockdown Thunder podcast are the Oklahoma City Thunder the best team in the NBA Josh giddy bouncing back against Portland what does that mean for the future of this season 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 lockon Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your team every day I am your host M member editorinchief over at thunderus intentions. Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter at L thunderpod follow me on Twitter at Ryland styles on

Today’s show brought to you by fandu will make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 money line bet by visiting f.com lockon to get started we we’re talking about if the Oklahoma City Thunder are the best team

In the NBA Josh giddy has a massive bounce backing his ninth career triple double against Portland as a thunder embarrass the Blazers and what stood out even in garbage time for the Oklahoma City Thunder but I think it can continues to be fair to wonder if this

Thunder team is the best team in the NBA and and you can you can look at the expectations you can look at what is supposed to be happening right now in this league what’s supposed to happen for young teams but against Portland that was another test for this team and and

Another adjustment that they had to go through something that they struggled with a week ago whenever they beat Boston at home went on the road to play Atlanta and could not handle a back-to-back with travel they got that same opportunity seven days later and looked completely different in that setting and

Then those things happen like what happened in Atlanta even happened to Boston who I think most people would say is the best team in the NBA I would still say Boston’s the best team in the NBA but it’s at least a conversation to be had after what we’ve seen through the

First 30s something games for Oklahoma City which I don’t think anyone thought would be possible at this point for this Thunder team to be in the conversation for the best team in the NBA uh or especially even just one of the best teams in the NBA so clearly nobody is

Going to Crown Oklahoma City for beating this terrible Portland team where even scoot Henderson of course has looked awful all year I still think scoot Henderson will you know eventually become a really great player in this league saw flashes of it throughout the season but he shot 19% the entire

Portland team shot 27% from the floor shot 22% from three and we’re just outmatched in this game the Thunder once led by 62 points and they LED you know wire to wire almost Portland got the opening tip and went up five on a 50 run

And after that it was over and it was all Thunder basketball and so when the Thunders shoot 57% from the floor 4 % from three 86% from the free throw line they’re going to win a lot of games and they’ve done that this year they’ve been one of the most efficient teams in

Basketball Portland you’re not going to see this very often won the turnover battle 12 to n and got beat by 40 points but with the Thunder’s ability to playmake and expose defenses their offense is going to be able to get them to the next level we talked about

Leveling up on the last show and how they’re using chat better how they’re using this assortment of of talent better on the offensive end and we know what they’re capable of defensively uh although things did Wayne last week they’ve turned them back around and and they’ve really kind of done a 180 which

Goes back to what we were saying of even Boston who I think like most 99% of people would have Boston as the best team in the NBA they haven’t lost a home game all season long even Boston was blown out like just obliterated on the second night of a back toback and they

Had a set schedule loss now their schedule loss came against the Milwaukee Buck which feels a lot better than having it against Atlanta but still that those type of things just happen you know Milwaukee has not 50 points better than Boston but on the second night of

Back toback with with travel involved it certainly could look that way but but the stats of this Portland game are fun to dive into because it was you know really a historic game I was historic in a multitude of reasons with the third quarter margin of Victory with the total

Margin of victory for Oklahoma City being the largest that it has been in franchise history uh only OKC era of course points in the paint 70 to you know 30 second chance points went OKC’s way but only by one and then fast break points went OKC’s Way by three you know

While the stats are interesting and and we’re going to dive into Josh giddy’s triple double dive into what Shay was able to do because I think that Shay quietly had uh one of his most efficient games of the year especially whenever you consider his rotational change the

The box score and the game stats don’t really matter about the story of this game the story of this game was continuing to see The Uncommon maturity from this team like that was a maturity test from Oklahoma City you’re one checking yourself compared to what everyone has said and

Agrees is a a disappointing and unacceptable level even with all the excuses involved for that last road trip where you go two and two and lost to some pretty mediocre basketball teams you have to test your medal after facing that you got to see this team make yet

Another wave of adjustments like they’ve done this all year where they struggle at one area then they’re able to turn it around this is the most recent example of it they’ve learned to now manage an NBA schedule they’re going to have to keep doing it this is in the midst of a

A brutal January they’re playing five games in seven nights they’re playing backto backs every other day uh and it’s going to be really grueling and really tough and continue to do so but seeing this young team be so uniquely a to grow game to game is as impressive as

Their year-over-year leap seeing chat hren adjust whenever every time he plays a different big you know the same big twice in a row he’s able to figure out new ways to exploit that matchup you saw him get better against jic game after game get better against uh you know the

Cavs bigs Big you know game over game and in all these teams that he’s played twice he’s gotten better at you’ve seen the Thunder team uh start the year and they couldn’t hold on big leads at all now they’re able to extend leads and lay the Haymakers and knock teams out you

Saw this team not be able to handle a back toback last week now they handle it better than you could ever expect a team to handle a back toback and a lot of that was just due to the quality of team that they are but also the the mindset

That they go into it as Shay said after the game that you know they wanted to come out wanted to make a statement uh about how you’re supposed to play in those moments where you’re playing on a back toback with all of the distractions that come with it where you’re not

Getting in until 4:00 a.m. uh but they wanted to make a statement and they did that by blowing out Portland we can continue to put qualifiers on this team but qualifiers on what um they’re able to achieve or should be able to achieve but they continue to blow right past those things

It’s still a long season there’s still an entire second half of the regular season to go I still believe the playoffs are a different ball game game but every time you’ve tried to limit this Thunder team they’ve not allowed you to they’ve broken through uh those those expectations the expectation this year

Was to be in the top six and like hey that’d be a really good season if the Thunder could survive this Western Conference and be in the top six you know even for as as muddled up as it still kind of is right now in the Western Conference and will be all year

Long where you only one bad run separates the Thunder from being a playin team because the first playing team at the seven seed is New Orleans and they’re four and a half back of of the first place you know they’re four games back of Oklahoma City you know

Four games is not a lot that’s I mean that’s if you let that road trip spiral that’s four games right there the Thunder have done a unique job as a young team though they haven’t lost more than two in a row all year long you know think back to last year’s

Team who accomplished so much and did so many great things they went on multiple four- game losing streaks a five-game losing streak they and and they Dro multiple games that they shouldn’t this team’s ability to snap out of cold streaks and build on their their hot streaks separates them from

Not only last year but separates them from almost every other team who’s been in their position as this young collection of talent I think that the Thunder have a a really good argument for being the best team in the NBA I would still give it to Boston I think

They have a good argument for being the best team in the Western Conference and the argument is they’ve done it like if you just look at what this team has accomplished this season and put it all on paper the teams that they’ve beat Minnesota they’ve beaten Denver multiple

Times they’ve beaten um of course Golden State multiple times like for whatever that’s worth I know Golden State’s terrible this year right now but uh still that’s a little Bugaboo for the Thunder they’ve beaten Boston they’ve beaten Minnesota the Clippers who are the the hottest team in basketball it

Feels like with with their nine game winning streak heading into that game and they’ve played so well since the James Harden trade uh since they’ve kind of regained their their footing after that deal they’ve played the top teams and beat the top teams the only team that’s really giv them trouble they play

Dallas beat Dallas uh is is Sacramento they they really really struggle with Sacramento and that’s a matchup that I don’t think anyone in Oklahoma City would want right now but other than that they’ve answered the call to every matchup and so they can only play who’s

In front of them they can only um go with the cards that they’re dealt but the Thunder at this point have made a compelling case for the top team in the in the west compelling case for for top team in the NBA and I just continue to

Fall back on what we’ve discussed on this show of if your only hesitation with this team is their youth that’s not really good enough and yes the rebounding is is is an issue um but every team has an issue every team has something they need to build on and

And improve upon there is not a perfect team in this NBA it’s why everyone kind of views um this you know title Windows being so open right now and why I think that the trade deadline could get really interesting with so many teams feeling in it this year it’s for that reason

That there is no perfect team the Thunders you know weakness is the rebounding and that is glaring and the second chance points off of it are going to are going to ruin some games for them both in the regular season and in the postseason but it’s how much it’s how

Many other things that they can do to counter that and to MK that that allows them to be so successful because they have been successful despite that rebounding W and those re running Wes and even when they win the rebounding battle in games they lose the second

Chance Point still so that’s going to be a constant issue uh until something changes probably with with the roster at this point I think that we’ve seen a large enough sample size to say that you know this current roster is always going to struggle rebounding is always going

To struggle giving up Second Chance points it’s going to be Reliant upon creating turnovers to um flip the advantage back to Oklahoma City in transition but still this under team despite that flaw has one of the best cases in the NBA for being the best team

Even though I would still go Boston but has Josh kiddy figured something out we’ll talk about that coming up but first want to tell you right now about our good friends over at FanDuel FanDuel is great you should go there right now fel.com lockon that is f.com lockon

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Fanduel.com lockon f.com lockon we’re back on the lockdown ther podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day has Josh giddy figured something out it’s no secret that Josh giddy to this point has been struggling but in this game against Portland he was near perfect the one blemish was a

Turnover but besides that he had 13 points in this one 10 rebounds all of which came on the defensive end and 12 assists with three blocks including a TI of Jeremy Grant overall Josh giddy in a vacuum did exceptionally well on both ends of the

Floor I do not think that this one game has changed everything I think it could be used as a springboard to change everything it could be used as a confidence Gainer it could be used as a momentum shifter but this specific game I think that there are more reasons why

It happened than just he figured something out dramatically different talking strictly on the core Josh giddy is a good talented basketball player just by himself now there are constructs of lineups and of defensive coverages that make him look like a not good basketball player which we’ve seen throughout this

Season what Portland does with their zero absolute nothing presence in the paint and there are willing to let you play small and not have a physical presence their willingness to let you get inside and score at The Rim and their willingness to just be laxidasical on offense which results in

Deflections and results in of course being able to push the paint in transition and push the pace in transition because they’re not trying to get back off of Misses they’re not trying to get back um you know off of turnovers which only had nine of but still they’re they’re just not in any

Sort of urgency mode and let’s face it they’re also not not trying to scheme their way to a win and that’s not a shot at Chanty bips they’ve just got bigger fish to fry then scheming their way to defend Josh gidy so they win a basketball game right so Portland’s

Mindset and Team Construction I think played a massive part of why Josh giddy was this good in the game however there were also things that I think that joshkid can take and Implement into as every game no matter how the team’s defending him no matter no matter who’s

On the floor any of that but it must be said that before we talk about Josh’s great game Portland is the perfect match up for Oklahoma City to play the way they want to play they can put any light up on the floor and not be overmatched

Not be oversized uh and not be out physical and so that lets them push the pace in transition that lets them make up the rebounding battle that lets them do all those things now Josh giddy again near perfect game from him the only mistake he made was one single turnover and for

The know usage that they kind of put on him in this game that’s expected and it was it was a know low catch that he had that was just bat it away and stolen away and allowed sco Henderson to go and have a fast break but the difference

From Josh gidy in this game and why he was so successful in conjunction with Portland’s you know bad defense and everything else he found the balance that we talked about on Wednesday of being decisive but under control when he wanted to go score at The Rim he didn’t just put his head down

And RAM right his way to the rim and just ill regard for whatever’s happening around him he’s going to try to shoot the ball at The Rim predetermining his next step the the difference he made was he kept his options open on his way to the rim he continued to use his high

Level vision to try to find the advantage and the advantage might be to take that shot but the advantage also might be to kick it out to an open teammate and make passes that you know really Josh Giddy and you can you can throw meich in this game too had a great

U you know couple passes those two guys are like the only players on the roster who can make some of those passes that those two guys can make I mean just it is what it is so he found that balance of being under control while being decisive because previously he was way

Too indecisive then he went way too deep decisive and now he’s trying to walk it back a little bit I think um with with finding that that soft touch now another area where he really improved is trusting himself as a transition option something that has been night and day

Difference for Josh Kitty and what has really heightened the poor play at the beginning of this season has been his lack of confidence as a live dribble passer and his lack of confidence to be the one to bring the team up the floor in transition because that’s where he’s

Going to make his best plays you go look at Josh K’s best plays of his career and even in this season it’s been off of live dribble passes and so with when he’s the one pushing in transition and you have all these weapons around him

Like a Chad like an SGA like a jdubb who are fantastic at filling the lane who are fantastic at scoring in transition and can keep a defense off balance it just makes everything run more smooth so his pace and his control the two biggest things but then also his engagement

Defensively was a lot better and you know again Portland doesn’t really care about this game but the tie up Jeremy Grant to to to plug the gaps very well when playing off ball all those things helped the Thunder he helped the thunder on that end of the floor and it wasn’t

Just the three blocks it was showing in the gaps it was it was switching it was getting to the boards boxing out getting rebounds he did those things to allow himself to be serviceable and that’s all Josh giddy has to do Josh giddy is a terrible point of attack

Defender he’s never going to be good at it but he can be serviceable and if you’re serviceable on that end and ever figure it out on the offensive end you know consistently and sustainably then you have another you know good basketball player on this roster he has not been a good basketball

Player to this point in this NBA season but we’ve seen him be a good basketball player previously on a lot of different stages in the NBL in FBA and in stretches in the NBA we’ve seen him be a really good basketball player so I’m not gonna say that this Portland game

Allowed Josh gidy to figure something out or allowed Josh gidy to take a leap or allow Josh G to do anything dramatic I think that it should give him confidence on the court I think that it showed that that player that can really play this style of uptempo basketball is still in

There but he’s got to figure out a way to be this impactful and obviously five for five shooting and and a triple double and 12 assists and 10 rebounds that part of the stat sheet is not sustainable but be this level of an impact player when the game slows down

When defenses are scheming to put their big man on Josh Giddy and to just kind of roam around when it gets more difficult and crowded in the paint and there’s more resistance everyone on the entire Thunder team could just walk their way to the rim no one cared no one cared on

Borland it’s how you get down by 60 it’s how you lose by a billion but Josh gidy played exceptionally well in this game I mean the touchdown pass to jdub to put it the Thunder up 40 was awesome he did a lot better in this game

And it’s only one game but did a lot better at using his body as a weapon for him as a score and getting into the paint harder than he usually did and it resulted in uh you know an uptick for him you know as an offensive weapon but

Also the free throw line three free throw attempts uh a couple conversions at the line for and ones just really really good from Josh I think that if you can get that level of Engagement every night and that level of trust in himself to be a liveable player it

Changes a lot for what joshkid can do because he shot the ball really well from December till now so that part of it is coming around it is what it is you can wait for the other shooter to drop or just give him credit for shooting the

Ball well but if he gets back to his you know level of passing and his level of creating with the defensive engagement that you saw against Portland then his season can turn around a little bit better than it has been but that was a fantastic Josh

Kidy game in 22 minutes was was a plus 46 um the best plus minus on the team for Josh giddy you know for this team was Josh giddy at plus 46 as he battled out the rest of the starters I think that this was one of sga’s best games

Simply because he scored 12 points in the first quarter and you look at that and you say well what’s the big deal he always scores double digit points in the first quarter he didn’t play the entire first quarter he only played 10 minutes and so he was still in that 10-minute

Window able to get 12 points and he still while only playing 21 minutes the entire contest got 31 points with four assists and five rebounds he got a block as well in this game shot 73% from the floor one for three from three eight for eight at the free throw line the free

Throws starting to change a little bit for the Thunder overall I mean you saw Josh g go for three for three sgo eight for eight the really big issue has been chat homr still missing free throws and you know I’m I’m not sure if this is

Anything at all but you know you watch him and you watch his hat streak at the charity stripe and watch him now holding the ball a lot more at the free throw line is that anything is that nothing is he overthinking it I I don’t really know

Uh but hopefully for the Thunder stake because Chad homeg does do a really good job especially for for a rookie uh at getting to the free throw line hopefully for the Thunder stake it does turn around he starts to make those freebies but SGA and Josh kidy were awesome so

War jaub everyone was awesome you don’t win by 60 you get up by 60 if everyone’s not playing awesome we’ll talk about the strange ending to this game and what the Orlando Magic game means for Oklahoma City but first want to tell you right now about good friends over at better

Help betterhelp.com lockon NBA that’s betterhelp.com lockon NBA look it’s the new year and you can be thinking to yourself new year new you but what about just improving upon things you already do well or helping take yourself and Empower yourself to go to the next level uh this is where you

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Charge until you find the right one that’s betterhelp.com lockon NBA better.com lockon NBA 10% off of your first month with that code betterhelp.com lockon NBA we’re back on the lockdown th Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast netork your teams every day J dub incredible only one miss shot 21 points

L Dort got hot in the third quarter shot hren 19 points four rebounds three assists one steal we we’ve talked about all those guys those guys deserve a lot of credit for for the way they played but um there’s not much you can say because we know what those guys are

Capable of they’ve been having great Seasons to this point you’re not going to learn much about them playing against Portland frankly did learn though ask chat after the game if he ever found out if you remember last year Chad holgren got four player votes you know how the

All-Star Game you know you get voted on uh with your peers with coaches and with fans he had four votes from players he never found out who those four V votes were from Jaylen Suggs got a vote and he only got one I have a feeling sneaking suspicion that Jaylen Suggs voted for

Chad Chad voted for Jaylen Suggs uh I’m going to try to ask Jaylen sugs about that against Orlando we’ll talk more about that orer game coming up let’s wrap up this Portland game against Portland keante Johnson had one of the most fascinating games that no one’s going to talk

About he played in the blue backto back on Tuesday and Wednesday and on Wednesday the Thunder held out Usman Jen from that blue game and the blue only have had eight active players eight so ke Johnson played heavy minutes in a game that went overtime for

The BL against Real G Valley vipers with only eight active players KY Johnson had a large task and no Jang there uh to kind of help to shoulder the load a little bit and then on Thursday keante Johnson gets his largest runway in the NBA he plays 17 minutes in his third

Game in three nights he plays rotational minutes on Thursday you know in term in terms of just like bulk minutes 17 minutes you know if you average that throughout the course of a season you are clearly a rotational player he played rotational style minutes on Thursday after playing starter minutes

Tuesday Wednesday and going to overtime on Wednesday playing three games in a row is awesome uh that happened with Trey man back in 2022 whenever he went to the Vegas showcase then came back uh for a game with the Thunder the Thunder have done this before uh I asked Mark about

Kind of the process of that you gave a really good answer you can go find it on Twitter Ryland Styles but basically he mentioned that like yeah they did not expect to play keante at all 17 minutes like they called him and told him he’d be active tonight and told him that you

Know that that they want to work him in but by no means did anyone think that it would be 17 minutes on the back of what he did uh with the blue this week but he scores his first inba bucket goes two for five that first bucket by the way if

You know Kathy Johnson he had the the scare at Florida the the the hard issue where he’s now have had a heart foundation set up and he’s been awesome working with with that group and then after Florida transferred to Kansas State last year was a wrecking

Force for the wild cats help them turn their program back around helped them get to the tournament and was one of the stories of the tournament um and then was drafted 50th overall by the Thunder his time in Florida coincides with Trey man Trey man assists on his

First NBA bucket for his first points I saw him walking after the game with the ball and uh Michael Martin asked him if uh if he had to fight and win for the basketball he said no no because he let uh he let U kenish Williams go get the

Ball for him uh obviously very excited for his first NBA bucket but I think that KY Johnson using this as a springboard to a bigger topic I think Kathy Johnson is really G to be able to bust down the door of NBA opportunity because he has checked all the boxes in

The G League he is a fantastic transition threat the best in the g- league in transition he is a fantastic uh option as a cutter because of his athletic ility doesn’t necessarily get to show that a ton in the G because of just the nature of the team and the

Construction of the team right now with OKC blue but I think that he can be a fantastic cutter he’s still shooting 40% from three still shooting 40% on catch and shoot looks offensively he has it plus he has a little bit of post- up to

His game he’s one of the best post up players I don’t think that’ll be a part of his Thunder career one of his best post up players uh in the g- league you saw him in this game with tack a hard close out get to the Baseline and get

That floater he’s really good at shooting at The Rim really good at shooting threes and average is seven rebounds a game and even though his his size might not lead you to believe he can clean the glass he really uses his size well he’s able to box out he’s able

To um put a body on somebody and as he collects seven rebounds a game he also generates rebounds for other players because of it uh on on the longer rebounds that go out to guards which the Thunder have guards who can cash in on those opportunities so KY Johnson has

Played so well he’s a really good defender in the G League level of course the G League um is set up for being highing you know higher scoring not going to dive into the the g- league semantics right now but it’s set up to for totally offense he does a really

Good job of Defending even in that space I think get even better in the construct of the Thunder uh you know kind of universe with K Johnson I think that he’s going to need opportunity in the in the NBA and January is going to be the time to get it with all these

Back-to-backs with all of these uh with all of these kind of just games block together five games in seven nights is going to be very very very very tough with that being said I’ll be very curious to see if he goes on the road trip to uh the West Coast after this

Game against Orlando uh because I think that his time is coming sooner than later and I think that he can be a very very very productive player in the NBA also want to talk about Trey man real quick Trey man you know we can talk all about garbage time but Trey man can’t

Shck himself into the game like he can only go into the game when the team puts him in and every time the teams put him in if you just watch him looks Head and Shoulders above where he was last year he looks way more calm and way more

Playing at his own pace this year way better Vision way better passing ability the level of passes he’s able to make now with the sheer velocity on the basketball to get it to the spot quickly to anticipate where his teammates are going to go which is a very tough skill

Just in basketball but a even tougher scale when you’re not playing a lot and getting to have that on court experience so I think that I think that you can surmise from that he’s done his job uh in in the film room so to say but every

Time he’s got a chance he’s been really good and he’s improved his defense by a country mile from where it started at uh I don’t know when it’ll swing back to trayan to play and try to prove it in more meaningful minutes the one time it

Has against Houston he was one of the best players in that game it was a terrible game it was a forgettable game it was a game that the Thunder did not like anything about but he was one of the bright spots in that game against Houston and Houston whenever they lost

But he can’t help that he’s playing in garbage time so we we can add the qualifiers at all we want to about about playing in garbage time that’s not his call what is his call is the vast Improvement he’s made uh year overy year from last year to this year for Oklahoma

City and for just himself as he continues to venture out I think the facility M just give the th gave the Thunder a ton of quality minutes in those nine you know minutes it wasn’t like you know it wasn’t obviously high pressure minutes but just focusing in on

Him and and taking yourself away from the school board taking yourself away from the competition level he looked better at just surviving in the NBA like he looked better at just not being overwhelmed by the level of athletes he was sharing the floor with um and so that helped him out offensively and

Defensively offensively you know what he’s capable of as a passer I think that he’ll continue to to round into form as a score and from the day he signed until now I’ve continued to say that he knew what he signed up for I’ve continued to

Say that uh you know the second half of the season in January was going to be a time for him to to get rotational minutes so far it’s playing out that way as he gets uh some some some looks here so so far so good with meic kind of rounding into

Form it was Portland it was a blowout this game against Orlando I think could be really fun Orlando though on the second night of a back toback and they have a pretty lengthy injury report obviously uh uh having just played Miami down to the wire two in an emotional game Paula

Banko already tweeted out about like how uh he was he was you know kind of feeling down and sorry about what happening against Miami you he might come to this game extremely motivated but just as of right now these are the players that the magic are missing Wendell Carter marel folz Gary Harris

Kev U Kavon Harris jet Howard Joe Engles France Vagner that is a laundry list of CVS seat uh of injuries so they the magic will be short-handed they’ll have to play a lot of their guys uh in more of a stress test scenario not to kind of

Balance their rest on the second night of a back toback uh obviously could miss some some High Caliber guys if none of those guys get upgraded between now and tip off for the Thunder they truly have zero injuries like zero no one’s with the g-league team nobody’s hurt so the

Thunder gonna have to make three healthy inactives about 30 minutes before tip off we’ll find out who those guys are so it’ll be fun we here to recap it all right here on on thunder so make sure you subscribe subscribe subscribe wherever you get your podcast from including on YouTube follow me on

Twitter and threads at rore Styles and also if you’re had any Thunder game in section 104 they have stickers to pass out so come collect one if you want so until then be good and be good to one another

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the best team in the NBA perhaps. Why did this blowout win over the Portland Trailblazers mean so much for the OKC Thunder? The Thunder saw Josh Giddey bounce back against the Blazers, what mattered about the OKC guard bouncing back and what did not? How can Giddey translate this to the next game? Keyontae Johnson got his first NBA points, and his story is incredible. Tre Mann was fantastic again. Will the Orlando Magic be able to get up for this game in Bricktown?

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6 Comments

  1. Let's pump the Brakes with that one, lol, and look at the Calender! Yes, OKC is a good team and I think the future is bright. The Season is a Marathon and the "real" season does not begin until mid April. They played the Portland Trailblazers who are once again blazing toward another high lottery pick, lol. Josh Giddey did have a nice game and I hope it continues, he certainly can do this. I love SGA and see him as "the" guy, I must admit I underestimated Chet Holmgren a little bit. He is such a talented player and can contribute in so many ways but my, the dude has some cajones! I see him throwing his body around out there and taking charges without fear. The guy is an awesome "compliment" to SGA. As much as I love Wemby I think right now Chet should be ROY, both of these young players are "quality" in every sense of the word. Thank you for your videos, I respect how hard you work and how much effort you put into this!

  2. Damn, even when you're complimenting Giddey, you're dumping on him. You really do have a weird grudge against him.

    Especially in contrast when Chet had a terrible game, you were practically deep throating him and giving him a tickle.

  3. Josh Giddy had a great game the other day. For sure. Let's not pretend it was one good game against a bad team . He has been playing really good basketball for the last month. Yes his turnovers are too high, but that is because he tries to make extremely difficult passes

    Look at his January numbers He is averaging 12.7 pts, 7 rebounds , 6 assists, 1.8 turnovers, 0.7 blocks, 0.8 steals in just 23.7 minutes. Oh he is doing it on a hyper efficient 55/50/86 from the field, and he is average +/- 13.2, even if you take out the portland game his +/- is still at 7

    Go back over his last 15 games. He is at 12.5 pts, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.3 turnovers in 22.8 minutes , still on super efficient 56/44/86. his Plus minus average is + 11.8

    his per 36 over the last 15 games is 19.7 , 9.1, 7.2, 3.6

    He has been absurdly good for the last 15 games, especially for a guy who is a 4th option on a team. Everyone on the team makes some bad decisions, everyone on the team makes turnovers, yet for Josh it seems that any mistake he makes in a game is blown up into focus.

  4. Rylan the greatest thing about this team is not the talent , it’s their chemistry and growth together. Shame on fans who don’t want the current players to continue that growth . Giddey has been playing well for more than just this game and to suggest otherwise is to be disingenuous but you seem to think he doesn’t fit but just won’t say it.?.

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