OKC Thunder Bench Can Change Games Moving Forward

Oklahoma City’s offense was starting to experience some of the same issues that plagued the Thunder a season ago — especially in the postseason. And plagued might not even be the right word, considering the Thunder still ended up overcoming everything and winning the NBA Finals. It wasn’t easy, though.

Multiple times during the postseason, Oklahoma City was clearly on the ropes. Against Denver, before Aaron Gordon went down, the Thunder’s offense dried up and they had no answer for Nikola Jokic. In the same breath, the Thunder’s role players started to falter, and it felt like the bench turned unreliable. They had to heavily rely on the team’s star players.

The same thing happened against Indiana, as the Pacers role players and bench rose to the occasion in a huge way. It felt like they couldn’t miss a shot, and dominated the Thunder’s bench. Every time Oklahoma City’s best players had to take a seat on the bench, Indiana started a new run.

The key to Oklahoma City’s ceiling has always been found in its role players — its bench. That still rings true. In the Thunder’s recent skid, the team relied on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entirely. The bench unit disappeared, and missed so many open looks. On Christmas Day, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and Aaron Wiggins combined to shoot 4-of-20 from 3-points range — and all were good looks.

The bench unit badly needed a dose of confidence, a game to get back on track. Sunday afternoon provided the chance, and the bench stepped up and seized the moment.

Oklahoma City won 129-104 against Philadelphia — getting back on track as a team, too, but the bench unit was a big reason why. Gilgeous-Alexander will always show up, and Oklahoma City will likely have another secondary scorer somewhere in the starting five, but the bench unit is what can be inconsistent. Sunday afternoon was the perfect opportunity of what it looks like when everyone does their job and takes care of business.

The bench unit totaled 51 points and everyone who played rotational minutes scored, aside from Isaiah Joe who played just five minutes before an injury. Both Ajay Mitchell and Aaron Wiggins scored in double figures and drilled two triples. Cason Wallace added nine points, and Alex Caruso added seven. They were all over 50% from the floor, too.

It was an example of how good this Thunder bench can be, even if they forget it sometimes. The bench unit has all the talent, and they hold they keys to the team's ceiling. This could be a launching pad for the unit moving forward.