The Oklahoma City Thunder came to Orlando with one thing on their minds and that’s to compete for the NBA Championship. During the scrimmages, we had a chance to see what the team had to offer. Everyone on the Thunder roster came into this restart healthy including Andre Roberson who’s comeback has been extremely impressive. The Thunder season came to a halt on March 11th in OKC against the Utah Jazz but Bazley and Diallo were still nursing injuries. This restart gave OKC a chance to come back healthy and it’s given everyone a chance to see how scary this team can be healthy.
The OKC Thunder started their restart with a win against the Boston Celtics (98-84) but the biggest takeaways from that game were the comeback of Andre Roberson and the play from a healthy Steven Adams. Andre Roberson was able to play in his first game in 909 days and boy did he look amazing. Roberson was nervous and had jitters as you could see once he entered the game but then he was able to settle in. Once Andre was able to get in the flow of the game you saw glimpses of what OKC was missing without Roberson on the court. He came in got a quick put-back layup and then knocked down a corner 3 pointer. It looks like Andre put in some work on the corner 3 pointers while being gone and it definitely showed. On the defensive end, he was always in the right place at the right time and didn’t look like he missed a step. Andre Roberson had a chase-down block that looked like vintage Andre and you can tell that he’s the defensive anchor that OKC needs because he can defend multiple positions. Steven Adams looks lean and mean just like his beef that he talks about in his commercials. Adams was able to set the tone for the Thunder just like he did before the NBA restart for the Thunder. In this game against Boston Adams looked unstoppable as the Celtics had no one that could defend him once he got great position in the paint. The Celtics had Kanter and Theis on him but that didn’t work as Adams finished the game with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Steven Adams looks healthy and has been able to move a lot better on his legs after the 4-month hiatus. The Thunder used the emotional boost from Andre Roberson and the monstrous play from Steven Adams to propel them to victory.
In the game against the Philadelphia 76ers, we learned that OKC still can come back from any deficit. The OKC Thunder beat the 76ers (102-97) as they came back after trailing by 24 points. This game showcased some of the things that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander worked on during the hiatus. Shai finished with 16 points and 5 assists on the night but showed that he’s improved his 3 point shooting and attacking the rim while taking contact now. It’s Shai’s second year but you can’t tell the way that his game has matured over the 4 months. This game showed how far the 2nd unit has come. Darius Bazley came into the game he had a different level of confidence and energy that was contagious as he started scoring and giving the team complete effort. Darius Bazley finished with 13 points on the night. It didn’t matter if it was hustle plays or just getting his teammates involved Bazley started the comeback and OKC started to take notice that they can win. Luguentz Dort was another player that has played with confidence and he was showing that he belongs in this league on a daily. Dort has been able to knock down the 3 point shot and he’s been defending at a high level as well. The second unit was able to make some big shots and they continued to limit the 76ers second unit as they kept chipping away for the win. Andre Roberson played a huge role in this game down the stretch as his defense and his OFFENSE were on full display. With Andre Roberson coming back and this being his second game in a couple of days he didn’t look to have rust or show any lingering injury concerns. In the biggest moment in the game, Andre Roberson hit a 3 pointer in the corner right in front of the 76ers trash-talking bench and turned around to let them know he heard them. A couple of moments later he hit another 3 pointer to give OKC a comfortable lead heading to the win. After the 3 pointers, you can see his confidence go through the roof and his teammates showed how much they missed his by their emotions on the bench. If Andre Roberson is playing like this throughout the playoffs the OKC Thunder will be a tough out for any team especially with them being healthy now.
The OKC Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the last scrimmage game getting them ready for Saturday against Utah. In this game, the Thunder were able to play Shai at the point guard position with Chris Paul sitting out. On the flip side of things, Portland didn’t play Damian Lilliard or CJ McCollum. OKC started off a little sloppy and stagnate but then OKC got the offense going in the right direction. Shai finished with 10 points and 7 assists on the night against Portland. It’s clear that Shai is ready for the regular-season games to get underway as he looks more explosive and his court awareness has definitely improved. The story of this game was the play of the Thunder bench as they finished with 85 points as a group and looked amazing. Yes, it’s a scrimmage game but this is still the NBA and the bench looked very comfortable throughout the scrimmage games. Tonight against the Trail Blazers they continued to look comfortable as Darius Bazley and Hamidou Diallo led the charge as they looked really good. Darius Bazley improved every game of the scrimmages as he put up 9, 13, and tonight 20 points. The growth and patience that Bazley has shown in his rookie season have been impressive and he’s been able to showcase it to us all. Bazley’s decision making and ability to put the ball on the floor instead of just shooting right away has been great to see. Bazley has looked amazing and you can tell he’s trying to play himself into a role in the regular season and playoff games. Hami had a great game tonight as well showing that he can score and finish when given the opportunity. It was a great game as Hami was defending at a high level and using that defense to create offense. Hami also was able to show his slashing ability and he was able to hit some shots. Overall this second unit for OKC looked really good and the candidate for 6th Man of the Year Dennis Schröder looked really good throughout as well. Dennis played a big part in each win and even if he wasn’t in the game he was cheering the loudest. Dennis has that smooth game that can’t be overlooked and you can tell he’s been in the gym the way his offense didn’t skip a beat.
This OKC team will be dangerous to play against and as they gear up to play the Utah Jazz on August 1st look for them to continue this hot streak. In the playoffs it’s all about chemistry and being hot at the right time and entering the bubble the OKC Thunder are 3-0. The Thunder will need to continue to listen to the game plan and coaching from Billy Donovan as they look for a long run into late September.
Video Credit: SEF-Oklahoma
Photo Credit: OKC Thunder
Recent Comments