Three Takeaways from the OKC Thunder’s Win Over the Brooklyn Nets

The Oklahoma City Thunder continued its momentum Sunday night, defeating the Brooklyn Nets 124-108. 

It served as its fourth straight win in a row, an impressive stat considering the tough schedule it’s currently enduring. The Thunder previously blew out the Denver Nuggets Friday, making quick work of the reigning NBA Champions.

The starting lineup carried much of the burden last night, combining for a whopping 97 points. Shai led the way with 24 points, continuing his strong campaign at winning the MVP award this season.

Here are three takeaways from the 16-point win:

Starting Five Shines

Much of the work to put away the Nets last night came from the starters, combining for 97 points as previously mentioned. 

Gilgeous-Alexander’s 24 points were good for the best on the Thunder roster, followed by Josh Giddey’s 20, Chet Holmgren and Luguentz Dort’s 18 and Jalen Williams’ 17.

The Oklahoma City starters have been considerably excellent for most of the season, and when all five click at once, it’s nearly impossible to beat them. Each player brings a unique attribute that adds something new on the court, whether it be 3-point shooting or defense. It makes for a lineup that opposing teams struggle to figure out, and Brooklyn certainly couldn’t last night. 

Stacking up to the rest of the NBA's elite starting fives', the Thunder can't be listed too far behind. It has all of the talent in the world, combined with a close relationship that makes for seemless communication between the five. 

3-Point Success

The eye-popping stat of the game easily goes to the Thunder’s 3-point shooting performance, in which it shot 18-of-33 from. That’s good for 54.5% from deep, far better than Brooklyn’s 12-of-46 night.

Oklahoma City has been the NBA’s most efficient 3-point shooting team this season with a 39.1% clip, which continued well into yesterday’s game.

The standouts from behind-the-arc were Giddey and Dort, combining for 8-of-13 shooting. Giddey hasn’t shot the ball well all season but had one of the best nights of his rough 2023-24 campaign, while Dort continued to prove his transformation into a true three-and-D player this season.

Defeating a team shooting that efficiently from deep is mightily difficult, and something the Nets’ offense could not keep up the pace with. If Oklahoma City can continue the rest of the season towards the top of 3-point stats, it could be a top offense in general. 

A Solid Win Ahead of a Big Game

Defeating the Nets was a good win foe the Thunder to grab, especially ahead of its next opponent: the 26-6 Boston Celtics.

The Celtics have steamrolled through the Eastern Conference this season, staying the No. 1 seed by two games above the Milwaukee Bucks. Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, paired with the new addition of Kristaps Porzingis, Boston is arguably the NBA Champion favorite heading into the midway point of the season.

It might be the toughest task of Oklahoma City's entire season, and a win would prove that it can absolutely compete with the upper class of the league over the last few seasons. The Celtics have been in NBA Finals contention for most of the Tatum and Brown era, while the Thunder is just now emerging again as a contender. 

A win would also boost its stock even more, stretching its winning streak to five games and only falling behind the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference standings. 

Even if the Thunder didn't come out on top as winners, gaining the experience agains the Celtics will give it a look at a potential championship team. 

Brooklyn gave Oklahoma City a relatively easier attempt a win in between the Denver and Boston matchups, helping build some momentum into the biggest game of its season thus far. It will be quite the task, but if it can keep up similar quality of play, the Thunder will have a solid chance at giving the Celtics their seventh loss of the season. 

The Thunder will play the Celtics at home in Paycom Center on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. CT.