Thunder Assist Numbers Climb in Preseason Slate
It’s all about sharing the wealth.
For Oklahoma City, sharing the ball and spreading around the scoring has worked for the rebuilding team who just finished the preseason 5-1, 3-1 against NBA teams.
Through six games the Thunder’s offense has been consistent in shooting and scoring, a major reason for their successful record. The Thunder has also seen a wide array of players contribute to the scoring and total offense.
The reason for the larger share leans to the absence of Shai Gikgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren for all six games, as well as Lu Dort for multiple games and others for a variety of reasons.
Without the team’s go-to star, the Thunder found themselves averaging just over 26 assists per game spread amongst the long roster.
The Thunder topped out with Maccabi with a 42 assist performance, in that game the Thunder also grabbed a whopping 57 rebounds.
In the NBA games the Thunder hovered around their ending averaging in the mid to high 20s.
Oklahoma City has passing and facilitating ability from top to bottom in the roster. From big man Aleksej Pokusevski to any of the large group of talented guards, including well documented creative passer Josh Giddey, the Thunder have shown their passing abilities.
Pokusevski notched a double-double with 10 assists against Maccabi, Giddey has recorded multiple double-doubles and triple-doubles in his short career.
As the Thunder develop more weapons across the roster the passing and sharing ability on the offensive end becomes increasingly important. Not having to rely on a small number of players to facilitate the office gives OKC a better chance to fight through possible injuries throughout the season.
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