Well, that was unexpected.
Oklahoma City, for one night and with perhaps the freakiest, alien, unicorn, superhero on the other side in Victor Wembanyama, looked normal. The Thunder led by as many as 16 points but shot just 41 percent for the game and 24 percent from 3-point range … and lost … snapping the franchise’s all-time-best 16-game winning streak.
The Thunder entered play with a 24-1 record and a 17.2 net rating, without its starting lineup from last year’s NBA Finals having played a single minute together. Now Mark Daigneault is going to have to think about lineup changes (that’s a joke). But yeah, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein hadn’t played at all together this season until Saturday. Hartenstein returned from a strained calf to score 10 points with nine boards in 20 minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander was 1-of-7 from 3-point range and had numerous shots changed by Wemby’s presence (Stephon Castle also had a nasty block on him too). Dort has struggled to shoot in an injury plagued season for him and was 1-of-7 from the field Saturday.
The Thunder are now a game off the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors’ pace to win 73 games. Both teams – the Warriors and this season’s Thunder – started 24-1, but Golden State didn’t lose its second game until game 31.
