Thunder in Review: OKC Survives Rough Stretch Following All-Star Weekend

From Feb. 23 (the Thunder's first game after a week off) to March 26, Oklahoma City went 9-9, maintaining its status as a postseason hopeful. At the start of this 18-game stretch, however, things looked much bleaker for OKC.

The Thunder dropped their first five contests following the NBA All-Star break, with standout guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missing four games over this stretch. After heading into its week off just one game under .500, Oklahoma City had fallen to 28-34 with five consecutive losses, seemingly eliminating hopes that OKC would be back in the postseason in 2022-23.

The team battled back, though, pulling off a three-game win streak with Gilgeous-Alexander back in the lineup to place the team firmly back in Play-In contention. One of these victories was the Thunder's only win this season over the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Led by 33 points from Gilgeous-Alexander to go along with 17 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds from Josh Giddey led Oklahoma City past the Warriors despite a 40-point performance from NBA legend Stephen Curry.

Following OKC's huge upset over Golden State, the team was seen differently in the eyes of the national media. At the start of the season, many viewed the Thunder as a young team in for another year of tanking.

While the squad had been successful up to that point, Oklahoma City's win over Golden State put an exclamation mark on what was quickly becoming an expectation-shattering season for the young Thunder. The team gained more national respect after this game, proving OKC could go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league in a meaningful, late-season contest.

Oklahoma City's victory over the Warriors was part of a period that saw the Thunder win six of seven games, one of the team's best stretches all season. Part of the team's success was due to head coach Mark Daigneault finding the correct starting lineup.

By this point, Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen WIlliams and Jaylin Williams were consistently on the floor to start the game. This was partially due to the team losing veteran utility Kenrich Williams.

Williams injured his wrist in a Feb. 28 game against the Sacramento Kings, sidelining the team's second-oldest player for the remainder of the season. While the Thunder still made a postseason push, having Kenrich Williams available would have been extremely helpful for OKC down the stretch.

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