Oklahoma City\u2019s 117-114 loss to the Indiana Pacers was a result that few expected. After starting the season 24-1, it seemed as though the Thunder were unbeatable and would cruise past Golden State\u2019s 73-9 record; however, they have shown that they are human. Since the hot start, OKC has gone a respectable 13-7, dropping games to the Spurs, Hornets, and now Pacers.<\/p>\n
A regular-season loss is far from season-defining; however, a game in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> gives you 47 points, and you never lead to a lottery team, can naturally prompt questions. On the surface, it can feel as though Sam Presti should be pressing the panic button. The NBA has figured out the Thunder, and their reign on top will be short-lived. This result in Indiana is far from that and shouldn\u2019t cause fans to sell their stock in the team.<\/p>\n What OKC\u2019s Loss to Indiana Really Means Going Forward The first stat that pops out when looking at the boxscore was the Thunder\u2019s 7-of-26 shooting from deep. The Thunder are built around having spacing to let Shai work one-on-one. That identity is hard to keep up when shots aren\u2019t falling. Bad shooting nights happen, however. Even the most historically elite offenses have cold stretches.<\/p>\n A more comforting result of this is that with this lack of outside shooting, Shai remained at an MVP level<\/a>, scoring 47 points on 17\/28 shooting, all while going a perfect 12\/12 from the stripe. He was able to keep OKC in the game, but the lack of total shot-making couldn\u2019t get the Thunder over the hump.\u00a0<\/p>\n Injuries are Starting to Catch Up to the Thunder<\/p>\n Injuries<\/a> played a key role in this game as well. Oklahoma City was without key rotation pieces: Jalen Williams<\/a>, Ajay Mitchell<\/a>, Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>, and Alex Caruso<\/a>. All four are crucial two-way players who could have helped bolster offensive output and mitigate hot nights from the likes of Jarace Walker<\/a> and Andrew Nembehard<\/a>. You can see that this group\u2019s absence had an effect on the court.<\/p>\n What unfolded in Indy is not an accurate picture of the Thunder\u2019s title outlook. While this loss raises eyebrows and can signal a lingering issue in OKC\u2019s three-point consistency or depth, it doesn\u2019t warrant panic. Instead, it should serve as a reminder of how NBA games are. With how fast-paced and dynamic they are, a good shooting night can help a team win on a given night. That\u2019s the fun in the league.<\/p>\n Championship Outlook<\/p>\n At the end of the day, winning an NBA championship is about playing your best basketball in May and June, not in January. Regular-season slumps, bad shooting, and injury problems are all a part of a long 82-game season. The goal is not chasing perfection, but learning how to play your best basketball when it matters.<\/p>\n A January loss, even an ugly one, \u00a0will matter little in the big picture. What\u2019s important is how the Thunder respond collectively, refine their consistency, and peak as the playoffs approach.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oklahoma City\u2019s 117-114 loss to the Indiana Pacers was a result that few expected. After starting the season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[5577,7,949,364,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,209,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-560476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-ajay-mitchell","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","11":"tag-jalen-williams","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-oklahoma","14":"tag-oklahoma-city","15":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","16":"tag-oklahomacity","17":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","18":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","19":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115957574253112625","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPoor Shooting Night in Gainbridge Fieldhouse<\/p>\n