Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Are Capable of Bringing Their Own Juice

Some games provide their own juice. It is made in a factory with the artificial sweeteners of the crowd, facing off against good teams, stars, and built-up history. Other games provide nothing. You have the farm-to-table process of squeezing your own juice out of an actual fruit.

Thursday against the LA Clippers, there was no work needed. Just take your jug to the end of the assembly line and fill it up with the juice of your choice. The crowd was into it, the other team was littered with stars, and it was a clash between two of the top three teams in the Western Conference.

So when the Thunder came out on fire, matching the Clippers blow for blow before knocking them out with a third-quarter run, it was easy to see how the sugar-filled juice had them bouncing off the walls.

On Friday, the juice was not ready-made. Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back; one of them had yet to crack ten wins on the season, and the crowd was very reactionary.

As the two teams sleptwalk through the first few minutes, the separating factor came when the Thunder brought their own juice, or energy, in this game.

It starts with a Jalen Willams screaming and-one right into the arms of Jaylin Williams flexing and boils over to a Kenrich Williams corner triple that caused the fans to unbottle their excitement.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have so many energy-giving players from the Santa Clara forward rocking the rim, to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dancing with the defense, to Chet Holmgren uncanning a dagger three, and a carousel of contributors off the bench, which allows them to go on massive runs. Turning a sleepy game into a sugar high win as they did on Friday.

Stiles Points

The Thunder have won the rebounding battle in each of the two games Gordon Hayward has played in. The veteran grabbed six boards against Washington.
Jaylin Williams embodies Mark Daigneault's "Stay ready" mindset, after not logging a minute against the Clippers, the Arkansas product was able to provide a spark off the bench early in this game.
Bismack Biyombo made his OKC Thunder debut with a couple of physical rim deterrence and good defensive communication at the end of this blowout win. While he will not be a fixture of the rotation, watching him toss his weight around shows why the Thunder picked him up to be a situational big man.
Lu Dort continues to catch fire from beyond the arc. After going through a winter cold spill, the defensive ace is shooting 57 percent from 3-point land in the last four games on nearly five attempts a night. When he shoots the ball well, it turns the tide for Oklahoma City, who are 4-0 in this stretch.

Song of the Day: The Rain by Oran Juice Jones

EXCLUSIVE: Keyontae Johnson Beats the Odds, with an NBA All-Star Weekend Appearance As Next Career Milestone

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.