OKC Thunder Are Nearly Guaranteed A Bucket Under These Scenarios

As the Oklahoma City Thunder have turned in a top-three offense in points per game and offensive rating during the 2023-24 campaign, they have an automatic source of buckets.

No, surprisingly, this is not about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who routinely falls out of bed and into 30-point nights.

The Thunder offense has dominated in more ways than one. Not only having the star power in the MVP front runner, but also dominating in the half-court (1.071 points per possession, 97th percentile), against man defense (1.074, 97th percentile), in transition (1.172, 72nd percentile), and their overall offense registers 1.092 points per possession ranking in the 97th percentile.

However, one of their best sources of offense comes from the sidelines. In After Time Out scenarios, the OKC Thunder logged 1.106 points per possession, in the 97th percentile, shooting 50 percent in such chances, and turning in a 48% score percentage according to Synergy.

This has earned head coach Mark Daigneault a lot of recognition, even inside the NBA during the preseason GM Survey, the Thunder bench boss earned votes as the best motivator, defensive strategist, and in-game adjustments.

However, perhaps the best and most important thing he does is set up the chess board after timeouts. This is critical at the end of games, especially in the postseason, when you need to trade buckets down the stretch.

Though, more routine than just the obvious late-game scenarios, is the timeouts that take away scoring lulls. On Sunday against Houston, as the Thunder offense sputtered being held scoreless for four minutes, the Thunder bench boss triggered a timeout and immediately bought the Bricktown boys a bucket.

That helped turn the tide, mounting a 16-point comeback to eventually beat the Houston Rockets by 13 after getting up 17 points. Part of the success of the Thunder in comeback efforts has been the ability to get back on track after Daigneault's timeouts.

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