The OKC Thunder are on quite a hot streak, and there is plenty more to come.
Among the contenders in the NBA, the OKC Thunder lead the conversation in the Western Conference. They are 24-5 following a recent 120-114 win over the Indiana Pacers on the road. They next head to Charlotte to take on the Hornets to look to continue their nine-game win streak.
In the recent win, though, Thunder superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was superb once again. He’s stacking his MVP resume as he scored 45 points while shooting 15-of-22 from the floor despite a poor start to the contest. He added seven rebounds and eight assists, too.
It isn’t just Gilgeous-Alexander who has been great for Oklahoma City, though. The entire team has stepped up all season long, even when Chet Holmgren went down with his injury.
The Thunder have built upon a great roster from a season ago. They posted 57 wins and took the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference last year. Then they added Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to their roster, bringing in even more depth to the team.
Because of the amount of talent they have on their bench and how none of the identity changes when the rotation takes place, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t feel like the team even has a bench.
“It doesn’t feel like we have a bench, to be honest,” Gilgeous-Alexander explained. “It feels like we have two lineups. When one lineup isn’t working, we go a different lineup, and that lineup figures it out. We course-correct. We get the car back on the road.
“We look at it like we have 12 to 14 guys every night that can effect and change the game, no matter who is out there, no matter who we play against. That’s how we attack the game.”
For most teams, this isn’t the case. It’s rare for a team to have a big three while also having a strong bench. Most teams also don’t have a bench that maintains a playing style and identity. For most squads, they’ve got to “survive” bench minutes until the starters get back in. That is not the case for the Thunder.
The Thunder have taken the league by storm in the past few seasons. After posting a 24-win season, they turned the corner as a franchise by following it up with a 40-win season. Gilgeous-Alexander finished No. 5 in MVP voting that season.
Last season, the Thunder topped their improvement by adding 17 wins, finishing as the No. 1 seed in the West with a 57-25 record. Conveniently, Gilgeous-Alexander finished No. 2 in MVP voting, being the runner-up to Nikola Jokic.
Now, Oklahoma City is on a 60-plus win pace and they’ve yet to play at full strength. In doing so, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30-plus points per game on stellar efficiency again.
Having a superb supporting cast and being able to play with familiar lineups while swapping players in and out is certainly beneficial to the Canadian superstar, but the Kentucky product has to put up MVP-level numbers and he has done just that. He’s the driving force of this incredible Thunder squad that is in pursuit of their first banner since arriving in Oklahoma City 16 years ago.
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