Just when you witnessed a first half which made you think it’s time for the Thunder to go full bore in tank mode, Sam Presti’s reset experience in Oklahoma got a serious shot in the arm.
At 11-14 and down to the rebuilding Chicago Bulls by as many as 26 points in the first half–the Thunder did their best imitation of Lincoln Riley’s Sooners in Waco when OU came all the way back from a 28-3 deficit with a perfect second half of play.
An NBA fan couldn’t have ask for two more different halves of play in an NBA game. The 26 point deficit was a tie for the largest Thunder comeback in their history. The comeback from 26 points was the biggest comeback in any NBA game this season. Period.
Some in the arena left at halftime thinking the Thunder were 11-15. But not to be as Chris Paul played the best half of basketball he’s ever played inside of Chesapeake Energy Arena either as a member of the New Orleans Hornets or the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Like Jalen Hurts in Waco–Chris Paul put the Thunder on his back and carried them to an improbable 109-106 win which puts Presti’s feel good Thunder in the No. 7 seed in the West twenty-six games into the season.
Chris Paul’s line of 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 rebounds was as good or better as anything seen in Oklahoma City during the recent Westbrook years of havoc and mishap in many a fourth period. This was point guard play which looked like basketball instead of a clusterfuck with a basketball. There seemed to be a reason for every action Chris Paul made with the ball.
So here the Thunder sit on December 17th as the No. 7 seed and with both Golden State and New Orleans both locked at the bottom of the West in full tank mode. Add to the fact the Portland Trail Blazers have been decimated by injuries as well.
Why do I mention this?
I state it because with these three teams mired at the bottom of the West— the Thunder’s playoff math is completely different in mid-December. A coherent argument now exists for the Thunder to not tank, but rather to play this out at least until the trade deadline in February and see what the playoff math looks like then.
Sam Presti has a team which isn’t terrible. You still can’t compare them to the Washington Nationals or St. Louis Blues, but they have our attention in Oklahoma City a week out from Christmas.