Injuries plagued OKC, yet a short-handed Thunder squad battled valiantly, pushing a nearly full-strength Detroit team to the very end.
Oklahoma City Thunder entered Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons with a completely decimated roster. Lu Dort was the only starter healthy in this contest, meaning four bench players were elevated to the starting unit, and the reserve unit for OKC was even thinner than it has been of late.
But it ended up being a close game. Credit to the Thunder for doing the best of what it had tonight. It ended up being a game that came down to the wire, and the Pistons did pull away in the final minute, but Oklahoma City was very much in this game in the clutch.
The Thunder came out hot in the first quarter and carried a lead into the second frame, but then gave away some momentum in the second and third quarters before ultimately having that surge come back in the early and middle parts of the fourth quarter to make it interesting at the end.
To make things even worse on the injury front, both Isaiah Joe and Branden Carlson left mid-game tonight with injuries, meaning the Thunder ultimately left Detroit with even more injuries than it started with. It was the second night of the back-to-back, so some of these injuries are not long-term. It’s more about managing guys who have lingering issues.
Regardless, given the fact that OKC only had seven of its standard contract players for the majority of the game, going toe-to-toe with a mostly healthy Pistons team that has the best record in the NBA, this was simply impressive.
From here, the Thunder will play the Denver Nuggets on Friday, hoping to get two key players back, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but time will tell.