Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Showed Good, Bad and Ugly Against Brooklyn Nets

After blowing a 25 point lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder stumbled out of the starting blocks in Brooklyn to get down by 18 points to a scrappy Nets squad. The Thunder strung together its worst two halves of the season in succession with an ugly thread tying the two together.

Oklahoma City once again did not have it on the defensive end to start Wednesday's game. A step slow on close outs, missing rotations, not playing physical enough and appearing disengaged at times - shades of Monday night all over again for what has proven to be a historically great defense over the course of the season.

That led to ugly play and a deep hole dug by the Thunder that somehow they eventually climbed out of. Though, it was a glimpse into the worst case scenario. The Thunder are built on the back of its great defense and can not afford any missteps on that end.

So sure, feel free to panic if you believe the defensive effort showed for two of the four halves Oklahoma City has played in the last two games is more indicative in who they are than its 58 game body of work, however this scribe will lean toward them being elite on that end in the playoffs.

After the ugly came a stretch of just bad play where they werent quite doing enough to get over the hump. Either missing open looks, carless turnovers, or the occasional defensive lapse just failing to put it all together.

But then, the fourth quarter hit. Oklahoma City flexed its muscles and completed its second largest comeback win of the season. The Thunder won the frame by 14 points, posting 39 in the period and forcing Brooklyn into four turnovers and lowly shooting splits of 26/25/87.

The Good? Not just the Thunder's 47th win, but the fact that run came via surging plays by Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, the units were led by Jalen Williams playing off Chet Holmgren who stifled the Nets inside the paint. That group put on more steam and made the breaks to win the game, they were in no way bailed out by having one of the best players in the league. That independance will be a requirement to pull out tough playoff games and this is an experience this team can draw from in the future.

Song of the Day: Uncle Albert by Paul McCartney.

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