SGA and Thunder Held Below 90-Points for First Time Since They Were Still Tanking

The Spurs beat the Thunder 103–82 in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. If that sounds like a low-scoring game for Oklahoma City, that’s because it was. It was the first time they were held under 90 points since the final game of the 2021–22 season when they were held to 88 points by the Clippers.

For some perspective on that game, the Thunder’s starting lineup consisted of Georgios Kalaitzakis, Zavier Simpson, Jaylen Hoard, Vit Krejči and Isaiah Roby. Melvin Frazier was the only player who came off the bench for the Thunder in that game. Only three of those players ever appeared in another NBA game and Krejči is the only one still in the league.

Considering the fact that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was already on the roster, this should probably be considered one of the greatest tank jobs in league history. With their second straight 20-something win campaign that season, the Thunder landed Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 pick in the draft and then took Jalen Williams at No. 12 with one of the picks that the Clippers had sent to Oklahoma City alongside SGA in the Paul George trade.

So yeah, scoring 82 points is not something this iteration of the Thunder is used to under any circumstances. While the ’21–22 Thunder were held under 90 points 11 times, the franchise hadn’t been held under 90 since.

In fact, they were only held under 100 points twice during their run to the NBA championship last postseason, scoring 92 in a win over the Nuggets and 91 in a Finals loss to the Pacers. They were held under 100 three times during the regular season and went 1–2 in those games.

The season before that when they finished with the best record in the Western Conference they were 0–3 when held under 100 in the regular season, but 2–1 when they scored under 100 in the postseason.

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But 82? That's a number they only failed to top four times during the heart of the tank in ’20–21 and ’21–22. Even with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell out, this is a shockingly low scoring output. And it’s also a reminder of how much of a prisoner of the moment we all are after every single postseason game.

Following Game 3 when the Thunder bench was so good Kenny Smith said that the Thunder had 11 guys on the roster who you would not be surprised if they scored 20 points. On Sunday night 11 players were on the floor for 14 or more minutes and none of them scored 20, including SGA.

Alex Caruso, who was averaging 21 points a game and had scored 31 in Game 1, missed the one shot he attempted and was held scoreless Sunday. Jared McCain who scored 24 in Game 3 was held to four points on 1-of-10 shooting.

While the low-80’s seems like the least-likely offensive output for the Thunder over the next few games, it is worth noting that four of their 22 lowest scoring outputs where they put up 110 or fewer points during the regular season also came against the Spurs. They were 9–13 in those games overall and 0-4 against the Spurs.

The combination of Victor Wembanyama and the injuries to key players is going to be tough for the Thunder to overcome if Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't get some help from that previously deep and dangerous bench.

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