How a 'Good Mentality' Helped the OKC Thunder Overcome Orlando
On Saturday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Orlando Magic 112-100 despite a lackluster performance from beyond the arc by OKC.
This season, the Thunder have been one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league, knocking down over 39% of their shots from beyond the arc, the second-highest 3-point percentage for an entire team in the NBA.
Against the Magic, however, Oklahoma City only connected on 22.2% of its shots from beyond the arc, going 8-of-36 as a team. Despite not being able to play their usual brand of basketball, the Thunder were able to beat a competitive Eastern Conference opponent.
After the contest, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spoke to Nick Gallo about the hard-fought victory.
“(Winning games like this is) going to take 48 minutes of toughness," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "It’s going to be a little tougher to stay with it (when) you’re not making shots. It’s easy to derail because of that but we had a good mentality all night, tried to make it tough on them all night, and because of it we were rewarded with a W.”
SGA and OKC did in fact make life difficult for reigning Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero and company, as the Magic shot just 20% from 3-point range and had only one player finish with more than 15 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander recorded three steals and a block while fellow standout defender Lu Dort notched a block and a steal of his own. As usual, Dort made Banchero and the rest of Orlando's offense uncomfortable all night, playing his typical pesky, physical defense.
“One of the best in the business at what he does. He pressures guys, he’s very physical with them without fouling, even though he was fouling a little too much tonight. We’re going to get on to him about that," Gilgeous-Alexander told Gallo. "Yeah, Lu does his job, the best in the business for sure. We expect that from him every night, other teams know it. He’s one of the reasons we’re so good.”
Stellar rookie center Chet Holmgren also recorded a steal and two blocks of his own.
In addition to standout defensive performances from Holmgren, Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander, SGA once again led the Thunder on offense, tallying 37 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
With Oklahoma City's defense playing well on Saturday and Gilgeous-Alexander improving from his remarkable 2022-23 campaign, Mark Daigneault's team continues to impress as the midway point of the regular season draws closer.
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