Offensive Rebounding Becoming a Weapon for OKC Thunder

Rebounding was a significant weakness for the Thunder last season, but it has become another weapon for one of the NBA’s elite.

Oklahoma City finished near the bottom of the league in rebounding last season, particularly struggling to finish defensive possessions with stops. While the numbers still point to that area being a significant concern, a season filled with injuries down low has thwarted the team’s improvements.

Considering the Thunder’s rebounding issues, Sam Presti signed Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $87 million deal over the offseason. After missing the beginning of the season, he has averaged 14 rebounds through four games of action.

His addition not only allows the Thunder to better close defensive possessions but also force their opponents to worry about finishing stops. While the Thunder have roughly the same defensive rebounding percentage with Hartenstein in the lineup, their offensive rebounding percentage has jumped to 26.9% in the four games with him available, which would be among the top 10 in the league.

The Thunder’s improvement obviously has a lot to do with Hartenstein’s addition, but the team’s approach is as important as anything. Coach Mark Daigneault raved about his team’s ability to not only use the offensive glass to its advantage but also limit the inherent disadvantages included.

“Yeah, we wanna go, and we went tonight,” Daigneailt said. “I thought we did a great job at getting on the offensive glass and really not surrendering a ton in defensive transition. There were a couple plays where the ball was just faster than us up the floor, and they made us pay. But otherwise, we were able to crash the glass and still not sacrifice too much in transition.”

Along with avoiding the negatives that come with crashing the glass, Oklahoma City has cashed in on its successful crashes. Although the Thunder are middle-of-the-pack in offensive rebounding and second-chance points, they are ninth in the league in second-chance points per offensive rebound, averaging roughly 1.36 points after each offensive rebound.

The Thunder have plenty of areas to improve, and rebounding is still one of them, but they have become a true threat on the offensive glass, and that will only become better as the Thunder get their bigs back on the floor.

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