Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder achieved a record of 68 wins and 14 losses in the regular season, becoming the top seed in the Western Conference, and used this momentum to win the NBA championship. This season, with the playoffs still about two months away, the team has already suffered more losses.
The Thunder lost to the Detroit Pistons 124-116 on Wednesday. The loss left the Thunder with a record of 45-15 entering Thursday, dooming the team’s record this season to be even worse.
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However, that doesn’t mean the sky is falling in Oklahoma City. The Thunder have been hit hard by injuries in recent weeks, and Wednesday’s game was a perfect example of that. Seven main players did not participate in the game.
These players include big-name players such as Alex Caruso, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Ajay Mitchell, Thomas Sorbo and Jalen Williams. The list includes the team’s top four scorers this season as well as Caruso, one of the team’s strongest defenders.
With that in mind, it’s impressive that the short-handed Thunder were able to hang with the Pistons, who are 43-14 on the season and firmly in first place in the Eastern Conference. It certainly didn’t help that the Thunder also lost Isaiah Joe and Brandon Carlson in that game, making the team’s injury toll more severe than expected.
It’s always going to be difficult to catch up to last season’s outstanding performance. Whenever a team breaks an outlier record — like the Thunder did last year — regression usually prevents a repeat. While the Thunder have been dominant this year, injuries have hampered them more than expected, leading to an even worse record with about two months left in the regular season.
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This return shouldn’t be a major concern for the Thunder, especially if all (or at least most) of these players can return in time for the playoffs. Things are looking pretty good on that front. Of those seven players, only Sauber has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Caruso, Hartenstein and Holmgren are all listed on the day-to-day roster and should be back in action soon.
Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to be reevaluated soon, suggesting he will return in the next few games. Williams is about a week behind Gilgeous-Alexander, which puts both on track to return to the team before the playoffs.
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For the Thunder, this is basically the most important thing right now. If the team goes all out in the playoffs, that’s still a force. While some might argue that the Thunder’s record shows they’re not that dominant a year after winning it all, the team’s 45-15 record is still good enough to lead the Western Conference.
