Playfully stealing the ball from Kobe Sanders, Cason Wallace added to his total. Facing an LA squad that had Kris Dunn bring up the ball helped him create some wiggle room for the league lead in steals. It was too easy for him as he relied on his instincts and savviness.
Wallace finished with five points on 1-of-8 shooting, four assists and one rebound. He shot 1-of-6 from 3 and 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had five steals.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder helped their 2026 NBA draft lottery odds with a 122-101 win over the LA Clippers. Back to business for the reigning NBA champion after an impromptu four-day break thanks to the NBA Cup.
The Thunder have buried opponents on the scoreboard thanks to their defense. Specifically, creating turnovers and winning the possession battle. You saw that in this matchup as OKC took an unreal 25 more shot attempts than LA.
“It feels like we’re taking life from the other team and they’re ready to quit,” Wallace said. “When we get teams to that point, it makes the game more fun.”
That’s how the Thunder have dominated the NBA over the last two seasons. The league’s best defense is a turnover machine. By the time you blink, they’re suddenly up by double-digit points. That’s how they turn close contests into lopsided scores within a few minutes.
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Juggling injuries all season, Wallace returned to the starting lineup. Isaiah Hartenstein was out with soleus injury management. It’ll be interesting to see if anybody sits out against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of this back-to-back.
“We take pride in winning and we want to win every game. Ever since I’ve been on this team, every loss we didn’t want to keep that around,” Wallace said. “We got the car back on the road and we got back to winning. Every loss you got to learn a lesson, but it don’t ever feel good.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Cason Wallace joyfully describes what it’s like when Thunder go on run