Thunder Lessons Learned: Three Takeaways From OKC’s Final Preseason Contest

From a purely stat-based perspective, the Detroit Pistons are better than the Oklahoma City Thunder, but only by five total points.

As the Thunder wrapped up its preseason slate Thursday night against the Pistons, it was looking to make the most of its exhibition play, especially against a Detroit team it had already faced in its second game. That was the case — coach mark Daigneault's did come away with lessons learned despite the loss — but dropping its final exhibition game prevented Oklahoma City from building momentum prior to the regular season.

But the loss doesn't mean much. It's preseason. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't play. It was a two-point game. All of the things. Every part of the game pointed toward positives for the Thunder, which is all it could have asked for in a preseason showing.

And speaking of Gilgeous-Alexander — here are three takeaways from Thursday's loss.

1) Oklahoma City's Depth is Positively Telling

No Gilgeous-Alexander for the night meant more possessions and opportunities elsewhere on Oklahoma City's roster. And saying that the Thunder took full advantage of that would be an understatement. Six Thunder players finished with double digits Thursday night, including two off of the bench, and with just a few more made baskets, that very well could have been nine.

Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng and point-guard duo Vasilije Micic and Cason Wallace all played big roles in Gilgeous-Alexander's absence, coming within one basket of double digits to overall boost a bench unit that combined for 57 points on the night. Ironically, Detroit's bench combined for two more than that, making up the margin of victory, but granted that Oklahoma City played without its consensus top-10 star, two points is far from disappointing.

2) Davis Bertans Could Be An X-Factor This Season

Davis Bertans only averaged 10.9 minutes last season for the Dallas Mavericks, putting up 4.6 points and 1.2 rebounds— his only major stats above 1.0. He didn't impact Dallas' offense too much, especially given the pure star power it had last season, but now entering his eighth NBA season, that's set to change.

Bertans made himself known for the Thunder during its first preseason outing against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. He knocked down four 3s that night and was a major spark plug during Oklahoma City's second-half run to secure a preseason-opening victory. Since then, he's made at least two 3s in every outing he's had for a combined deep shooting percentage of 55 percent — not bad at all.

Moving forward, Bertans could very well have a big role off the bench, serving as an instant offense piece for a team that has already proven its depth.

3) Behind-the-Arc Percentage Will Be Crucial

Bertans may have figured it out from deep — it is his niche, after all — but the Thunder as whole are far from being able to say that. During their second Pistons loss, they were outshot from 3-point range by six percentage points, but that isn't the concerning part. Oklahoma City only hit 28 percent of its 3s. That was concerning.

For a team that has shooters like Isaiah Joe and Davis Bertans, among its other stars, shooting sub-30 percent is not a great place to be, and was a big reason for the Thunder's loss. Poor shooting caused trouble during preseason, and will continue to do so in the regular season if the team continues to have shooting woes from deep.

With the loss, the Thunder finished its preseason slate at 2-3. Each game — besides the Milwaukee blowout — proved to be extremely competitive on both sides, setting Oklahoma City up for some exciting basketball to begin the season.

The Thunder now have its sights set on the regular season. From here, every game matters — and the players know that. Their first chance to show that will be on the road on Oct. 25 against the Chicago Bulls.

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