Holmgren, OKC enter 2024 firing on all cylinders
NBA teams aren’t asking for much with their New Year’s resolutions.
The city of Detroit only hopes for more Wingstop. Victor Wembanyama hopes for a passable point guard. Giannis Antetokounmpo vows not to be duped by another phony game ball.
The Thunder, a year removed from crossing its fingers for playoff contention, enters 2024 with less than 10 losses on the season and a hope that its January schedule will unfold the way its 124-108 Sunday night win over Brooklyn did.
After a scorching first quarter that saw 15 points from Brooklyn forward Mikal
Bridges points and 6 of 10 3-pointers drop, the Nets cooled off. Way off. Through the rest of the game, Brooklyn made just 6 of its 36 3s. Still, it never gave up the exhausting level of drive-andkicks that sent it overboard.
Part of that is the plethora of similar, 3-and-D wings the Nets employ. The way they’ve conditioned themselves to play, hovering near the top-10 in 3-point attempts per game. Part of that is rookie Chet Holmgren’s presence.
He forced ball handlers to think twice. His wall ups led to more passes than normal. To distorted aerial positions, to wild passes out of shot. Nikola Jokic jokingly made the suggestion, but one of Holmgren’s resolutions frighteningly seems to be getting fatter.
The crab leg he bashfully dropped back into his lap upon finding out he couldn’t eat at his postgame press conference was evidence.
Holmgren’s presence is merely part of the formula that’s worked. A conveyor belt in the tightly run machine. The same as their third-quarter outbursts, or the couple of strong fourth-quarter starts they’ve seen from both Jalen Williams and Holmgren this past week, or the efficiency they’ve typically enjoyed — like drilling 18 of their 33 3-point attempts Sunday.
Or, of course, the now typical 24point, four-rebound and six-assist performance Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered.
They’re factors that have become so
normal, so expected that it's more stunning when one of the cogs is out of place. That's been the second half of 2023 for the Thunder.
All five starters finished with at least 17 points. But you probably won't remember Sunday's game.
It'll blend in with plenty of good OKC (22-9) has done and the business it's handled. But maybe you'll remember the way the Thunder finished December — 10-3, with wins over the West's top-seed and the NBA's reigning champion (twice) in a two-week span.
Maybe, just maybe, a few members of the organization will rest on the night of New Year's Eve taking solace in the fact that next year's goals aren't last years.
Fourth quarter Dub
Who knows what version of him it is by now.
All that can be said about Jalen Williams after the past week is whether something is clicking for him once fourth quarters begin. When the Thunder needs separation, when he's tapped on to be the guy.
Dating back to his late flick of the switch against the Knicks, Williams has been noticeably decisive. Sunday was no different.
Making the right reads off the bounce, toying with defenses in his ability to avoid swipes and pound the ball toward his kill zones. Going left means a fatality, but either elbow has become a suitable weapon.
Williams finished with 17 points and five assists, 11 of those points coming in the final quarter.
"All I can go to is he's playing with a great deal of confidence and aggression," coach Mark Daigneault said. "... He's obviously a very impactful player already, but he's still developing large parts of his game and I think you're seeing some of that growth."
He's shown off the touch, the shotmaking and the savvy to make the second quarter and fourth quarter lineups that prominently feature him and Holmgren meaningful.
The Thunder has allowed the room for those lineups to play out and for Williams to fortify himself as a legitimate creator. It's hard to put weight into a single week of basketball, but his felt important for OKC's long-term outlook.
Giddey notably turning a corner
It was only weeks ago when teams flipped Josh Giddey's world upside down.
They flipped centers onto him, they abandoned him when he stood past the 3-point line. They questioned his decisions, and as a result, he seemingly did too.
Mark Daigneault never acted on removing Giddey from a starting lineup he's hindered at times. Instead, he's pushed Giddey to make quicker decisions and put him in different actions.
There are admittedly still blemishes and rim attempts that evoke face palms. But Giddey has seemingly turned a corner this past week — in his decision making, in his role, in his confidence.
“He's doing exactly what I expected,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Giddey. “I said this before, every young player gets thrown different looks and has to adjust, especially early in their careers. I've had to go through it. … Josh did exactly what he was supposed to do. Learn from it, get better and attack it.”
A game removed from some lightbulb moments in Denver, Giddey added 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and made 4 of his 8 3-point attempts on Sunday. Drilling his open 3s surely helped, but his touch passing and overall feel of where to be and how to move off the ball has improved.
Through his past eight games, Giddey is shooting 56.7% from the field and 41.2% from 3, up from his 44.8% and 32.9% from deep on the season.
He's not an entirely different player. But he's seemingly adjusted to the way defenses have played him — Brooklyn center Nic Claxton defended him at times Sunday.
Perhaps one play fittingly defined his day. With five minutes left to play, Giddey delivered a touch pass to a streaking Lu Dort, who attempted what might've been the wildest dunk of his career. After it careened off the rim, Giddey charged toward the ball and an offensive rebound, ending in the Dort 3 that finished off a middling Nets team.
Thunder tip-ins
h The Thunder debuted its City edition jerseys and accompanying court Sunday night. In the first half, it created a bit of a stir. Not exactly because of the new look. But because, well, the Love's patch that Thunder fans just adore wasn't on the jerseys. That was fixed at halftime after a reported pregame mixup.