Opponent Scouting: Oklahoma City Thunder (4-5)
Tonight at 7:30pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be hosting the Thunder of Oklahoma City. The Pistons are on two days of rest after getting embarrassed by the Cavs while the Thunder are on one day of rest following defeat at the hands of the Bucks.
Why no recap of the last game?
I had something come up so I couldn’t watch it live. Watched a replay but didn’t have the heart to write about it. Burn the tape.
The Them:
The Thunder are a team that, like the Pistons, is not making a serious attempt at being competitive this season. They’ve outperformed those expectations for now but one would imagine that they won’t keep up all season. They come into tonight’s game with the 25th-ranked offense (just in front of the Pistons at 26) but they have managed to have the 7th-ranked defense in the league.
Rookie Chet Holmgren is out for the season, so he will not be playing just in case you missed that. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the team’s star and if he stays healthy and plays like this then the Thunder will likely keep themselves a step above the actual bottom feeders of the league. SGA is averaging 30 points and 6 assists per game. He’s athletic, can get to the hoop, draw fouls, and score with jumpers. He does not take many threes though.
After SGA, Lu Dort is an awesome defender who has been an effective shooter and occasional scorer on offense although his shot has been in the toilet this season. 2nd-year player Josh Giddy is whip smart, finding his long shot, and has good size. Veteran Mike Muscala spaces the floor, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is big and can really shoot. Their bench is a collection of largely unheralded young guys who may or may not be part of the long-term future. Rookies Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng were lottery picks this Summer and have talent though neither has found their footing yet.
This Thunder team is exceptionally young which makes it unlikely that their defensive performance keeps up, but SGA is a genuine all-star caliber player, worth remembering that he’s 24 now which is usually when stars truly start to hit their stride, which makes them different from most of the bottom feeders but he can only do so much.
All that said, for yet one more season, this Thunder team plays above its weight and if you don’t come out ready for them they can beat you, especially when you are the Pistons.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Having some pride: To be clear, the Pistons are bad because they have a bunch of bad players, but they’ve had a couple of really disappointing games. This Thunder team is one of the few games where the Pistons can’t use “well we are so young” as an excuse. Go out and compete for real.
Gang rebounding: Thankfully the Thunder are not exactly huge inside, but its been a consistent issue this season. Isaiah Stewart isn’t big enough to consistently clean the glass on his own, so everyone needs to pitch in.
Cade vs. SGA: Theoretically they should spend much of the game on each other and its usually fun when the best two guys on the court match up. SGA’s athleticism could give Cade trouble, but we know he will compete.
Ivey vs. Dort: Dort isn’t exactly a monster offensively but he will give Ivey all he can handle on the other end. It will be important for Ivey to pick his spots and not get frustrated.
Bench mob vs bench mob: Once again. One of the few games where the Pistons bench isn’t automatically outmatched. The bench needs to find some juice tonight.
Killian Hayes vs. Final ropes: Not exactly a secret but Hayes has been astronomically bad this season. If he doesn’t find some semblance of success it is hard to justify playing him even when you are in a tanking season. Something has to give.
Isaiah Stewart vs. Offensive aggression: This will remain a recurring bullet point. So far, Stewart has largely not been up to the challenge, but teams completely ignore him on the offensive end. He has to at least go down swinging to give his ball handlers a chance.
Some good vibes maybe? The Pistons were outright embarrassed in their last two games. It’s a tanking season and the Pistons will be bad all season, but winning games like this, at this moment, are how you keep morale from falling to dangerous levels within the team.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
The Pistons look flat right away again
Cade and Bojan’s jumpers are not falling
Isaiah Stewart isn’t even trying to shoot the open jumpers
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Cade comes out to prove a point and puts up 20 in the first half
The bench doesn’t get run off the floor
Bojan finds his hot hand back
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Stew hits 4 long-balls
Killian has the best game of his season (not saying much I know)
SGA struggles
Pistons win. By some number of points.