{"id":520949,"date":"2026-03-05T19:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/520949\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T19:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:57:18","slug":"the-thunder-arent-dominating-knicks-game-shows-why-theyre-still-team-to-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/520949\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thunder aren’t dominating. Knicks game shows why they’re still team to beat."},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Chet Holmgren knew that, for the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, it could\u2019ve gone the other way.<\/p>\n

Minutes before he tried to fit his 7-foot-1 frame into a padded folding chair here at Madison Square Garden, his team escaped with a 103-100 win<\/a> Wednesday, March 4 over the Knicks that didn\u2019t come without drama.<\/p>\n

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New York whittled an eight-point deficit inside the final three minutes, eventually putting up a pair of clean looks<\/a> inside the final six seconds with the chance to tie the game. The first shot was long \u2014 the second one, short.<\/p>\n

And so, the Thunder outlasted New York in another reminder that, for Oklahoma City, things won\u2019t come easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made enough plays down the stretch on both ends to close it out,\u201d Holmgren told reporters. \u201cThey made some plays, too \u2014 they just didn\u2019t quite convert. If they do, it\u2019s a different-looking game.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dunks the ball past the Toronto Raptors’ Sandro Mamukelashvili at the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dunks the ball past the Toronto Raptors’ Sandro Mamukelashvili at the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Washington Wizards’ Cam Whitmore dunks the ball against the Charlotte Hornets at Capital One Arena.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

3 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Brooklyn Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. dunks in front of the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 25: The Denver Nuggets’ Christian Braun dunks the ball against the Phoenix Suns’ Grayson Allen at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 24: The Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. dunks against the Miami Heat at FedExForum.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 24: The Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo dunks over the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. at FedExForum.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

7 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 22: The New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby goes up for a reverse dunk against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

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8 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 22: The Utah Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen dunks against the Los Angeles Clippers at Delta Center.<\/p>\n

This Thunder team isn\u2019t nearly as dominant as the one that won the championship last season. For one, Oklahoma City already has more losses (15) than it did last year (14), with 18 games still remaining. For another, points are more difficult to come by; this season\u2019s Thunder ranks seventh in offensive rating, scoring 116.9 points per 100 possessions, after it ranked third in the league (119.2) last year.<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, it may not matter. The Thunder (49-15) remain the best team in the NBA and are a legitimate threat to become the first team to repeat as NBA champions since the Warriors did so in 2018. This is only magnified when you consider that they\u2019ve done all this despite being saddled with injury issues since training camp.<\/p>\n

Jalen Williams, an All-Star last season, has played just 26 games and is currently out with a strained right hamstring. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just returned from a nine-game absence. Center Isaiah Hartenstein has played just 35 games, and he left the Knicks game Wednesday midway through the third quarter with left calf tightness. Alex Caruso (left hip contusion) was also knocked out.<\/p>\n

But as they have all season long, role players filled in.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re a pretty deep team,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game. \u201cWith the injuries we\u2019ve gone through this year, for us to still be in the mix for the top seed in the league and in the West is pretty impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against the Knicks, third-year guard Cason Wallace started his 51st game of the season. He was the primary defender on Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson and swiped 4 steals on the night<\/a>. Veteran forward Kenrich Williams played just 6:13 in the game \u2014 all in the fourth quarter \u2014 and hit a big 3 early in the period that quieted a New York run.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just speaks to the guys that have had to step up, like Isaiah Joe, Cason \u2014 the past few weeks have transformed their game and have shown what they can be as basketball players in big roles,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cGuys like myself come back and kind of diminish their role and it\u2019s a little bit unfair. Hats off to those guys for doing whatever the team asks from them, literally. If the team asks them to do more, they do more. If the team asks them to do less, they do less.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTo win a championship, no matter how good your best players are, you need to have those guys on your team. We know that, and we\u2019re thankful for them, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) goes to the basket against New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) during the first half at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

Prior to Wednesday night\u2019s game, Williams went through an extended shootaround session in which he moved with ease and didn\u2019t appear hampered whatsoever. He was loose, he joked with Gilgeous-Alexander, and he laced shot after shot.<\/p>\n

If he can stay on the floor, he\u2019ll provide a massive boost for the Thunder on both sides, especially late in games. Williams earned All-Defensive second-team honors last season and his shot creation in the NBA Finals helped the Thunder close the Pacers.<\/p>\n

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Yet, the final 18 games of the regular season will test this team more than any stretch since winning the title. According to Tankathon.com<\/a>, the Thunder have the NBA\u2019s third-toughest remaining schedule (.535), and Oklahoma City only has a 3\u00bd-game lead on the Spurs for the top seed in the West.<\/p>\n

And if the Thunder are to retain the No. 1 seed, it will be because of games like these \u2014 games against great teams, on the road in iconic venues \u2014 games in which the Thunder are shorthanded, for them to pave the foundation to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have pixie dust,\u201d Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. \u201cIt\u2019s those guys. They\u2019re the ones executing. They\u2019ve got the competitive maturity at this point to understand how to win. That doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll win every game, but they understand the path you have to walk through.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTheir ability to click in the way they did tonight is a necessary skill. And it\u2019s great for us to get experiences like this \u2014 and have success in those experiences. That\u2019s how you build your muscle through the course of the regular season to make yourself as mentally tough as you can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thunder aren’t dominating NBA standings … but still are team to beat<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Chet Holmgren knew that, for the Oklahoma City Thunder, it could\u2019ve gone the other way.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[96980,64,63,726,149503,3894,46028,149502,20455,12831,121680,12845,1025,5673,5548,16120,12841,85,259846,76847,190649,3198],"class_list":["post-520949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-alex-caruso","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-cason-wallace","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-isaiah-hartenstein","tag-isaiah-joe","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jalen-williams","tag-kenrich-williams","tag-knicks","tag-new-york","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-pacers","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports","tag-the-knicks","tag-the-thunder","tag-thunder-team","tag-warriors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}