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Injuries Catch Up to Thunder, Get Blown Out by Mavericks
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- Injuries Catch Up to Thunder, Get Blown Out by Mavericks
(Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)
The injuries have officially caught up to the Oklahoma City Thunder . After losing Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams on Sunday night to potentially season-ending injuries, Chet Holmgren also hasn't played since that game and Alex Caruso was lost to an ankle sprain on Monday night.
As such, it was a decimated roster that took the floor in Dallas on Wednesday night and got demolished, 120-96.
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It was a game in which the Thunder's two-way players were forced to play significant roles, which, as expected, didn't go particularly well. Oklahoma City actually hung in the game throughout most of the first half, but was outscored by seven points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth.
Three-point shooting was a major issue in addition to poor defense. In losing four key players over the last handful of days, the Thunder was without four high-level defenders in this contest, and it showed. Shooting just 15.6% from beyond the arc while the Mavericks knocked down 16 triples was also a recipe for exactly what happened on Wednesday night.
Ajay Mitchell had another great game with 29 points to lead Oklahoma City, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was relatively quiet with 21 points. The Thunder suffered its first loss of the season, falling to 4-1, while Dallas improved to 3-2.
Things won't get any easier from here. Oklahoma City will now travel to Houston to take on the Rockets on Saturday, which, given the circumstances surrounding the roster and injuries, could be the most difficult matchup of the season in terms of pure talent and depth on the active roster.
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This felt like a pivotal game in which the season could take a real turn for the Thunder. While Oklahoma City still isn't expected to be a bad team, it certainly doesn't look like a group capable of dominating the Western Conference with the players currently available.
At some point, either a trade or two will need to happen to bolster the roster, or expectations will need to be realigned for this team moving forward.
