Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Outlasting Dog Days of NBA Season

A Sunday evening in Portland against a tanking team, the only game on the NBA docket while the rest of the world laser focuses on football. Clinging to the mega sport for the last few dopamine hits of the NFL before it slips away for another six months. These are the dog days of the basketball season.

As Patrick Mahomes was yet again out dueling Josh Allen to march to another Super Bowl, the Oklahoma City Thunder were pulling out game 45 in the Moda Center, 118-108.

This win marks the 37th for Oklahoma City against just seven losses, giving the Thunder the best record in the NBA past the mid-way points as they attempt to repeat as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Despite all this success, it has come through no shortage of adversity. The Thunder have seen Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Kenrich Williams, Jaylin Williams and Alex Caruso miss massive chunks of time. Rookie standout Ajay Mitchell is shelved for 10-to-12 weeks. A smattering of other rotational players have missed at least a game.

With all of that poor injury luck, the Thunder have battled - even winning games without a single healthy center. Of those seven losses, the vast majority has come without a seven-footer in the lineup with 3 of the seven against the Dallas Mavericks all under that circumstance.

The NBA season can wear on a team and especially one that sees as many injuries as the Thunder do. Each of the 82 games can not be the Mona Lisa. But, you would much rather win ugly, than lose pretty.

That is exactly what the Thunder did on Sunday. Should they have gotten down double-figures to the lowly Trail Blazers? Of course not. Did they lapse in defensive coverages to leave Portland shooters open allowing them to convert the 3-ball at a 45 percent clip? You betcha. Could Jalen Williams stand to throw down a slam a few more times than he elected to loft up a floater? You could make that argument.

However, in a month from now when everyone surveys the lay of the land and gets re-energized for a playoff push after the All-Star Break, no one will - nor should - remember those details. They will just remember the win. Survive and Advance.

All of the overanalyzing of this Portland match should fall on deaf ears. Why? All of the above has a much larger sample size of being perfect than revealing a blemish.

The Thunder's perimeter defense this season has a 103.9 defensive rating this season, letting up just 42.7 points in the paint and just 35 percent shooting from 3-point land. However, in the last ten games, those numbers balloon to 36.3 percent from beyond the arc, a 108.2 defensive rating and 45.6 points in the paint.

There are two easy explanations for this moderate decline defensively: injuries and Fatigue.

The Thunder have played without a center during this ten-game stretch (six games), they have also only seen nine off days between these ten games, with a pair of back-to-backs and six road games.

The two go hand and hand, it is not just the games played and travel that draws the dead legs you can sometimes spot on the hardwood, but the style of play. One that puts more pressure, more bruises and more miles on the rest of the roster.

While you can scoff at shelling out credit to the Oklahoma City Thunder for downing the tanking Trail Blazers, first check around the association. Cleveland is 5-5 in their last ten games. Boston and New York are 6-4. These teams that are not facing the pressure of playing catchup often succumb to the temptation of coasting to the break.

Oklahoma City deserves credit for outlasting the dog days of this season to this point. Leading into the All-Star break? The Thunder play nine games with nine off days littered throughout the stretch.

Stiles Points:

Ousmane Dieng continues to look the part in the chances he has been given of late. Against Portland, it was five points, a rebound and an assist all in 11 minutes of play without missing a shot. This is the first stretch in his career that - at the NBA level - Dieng looks like a rotational player.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked into another 30-plus point game going for 35 points, five rebounds, an assist, three steals and 48 percent shooting from the floor. Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his 12th game with 30+ points and 3+ steals this season, the most in the NBA.
Isaiah Hartenstein made his return to the lineup for the Oklahoma City Thunder where he continues to be a walking double-double turning in 14 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and a block in 32 minutes of action.
Isaiah Joe came off the bench for a stellar night after being sidelined due to an illness. Joe posted 16 points, four rebounds and an assist while shooting 54 percent from the floor in 25 minutes.

Song of the Day: Kansas City by the Beatles

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