With their NBA Cup run behind them, the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder head from Las Vegas to Orlando to meet the Magic on Thursday.
The Thunder advanced to Tuesday’s NBA Cup Final, where they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 97-81. Stifled throughout the game on the offensive end, Oklahoma City suffered a loss, but only monetarily.
None of the statistics counted for the second-ever NBA Cup Final, nor was either team’s record affected. Each Milwaukee player made $514,971 for taking home the in-season tournament crown — the Thunder players each will receive $205,988 — and the Thunder’s five-game winning streak remains intact ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Orlando.
The Thunder couldn’t get untracked offensively. They shot 33.7 percent overall (29 for 86) and 15.6 percent from 3-point range (5 for 32).
“We did some good things. We outscored them in the paint so obviously we did the job defensively on that end,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “But obviously a tough night offensively all the way around for us. We didn’t score nearly enough points, especially in the second half, to give ourselves a chance to win. But we can learn from it, move forward here.”
Still, Daigneault said he believes the experience will benefit a Thunder team that’s in the midst of a 13-day stretch without a home game. The NBA Cup loss has been one of the few blips in the season for Oklahoma City, which holds the best record in the Western Conference.
“It was a good experience for our team in December,” Daigneault said. “I’ve said all along, win or lose, we’re still trying to grow with a lot of the season left. Being in these situations has helped us do that. Now we’ve got to take these lessons and head into the rest of the first half of the season.”
The Thunder are paced by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30.3 points per game, which is third best in the NBA. Jalen Williams follows with 21.7 points per game for Oklahoma City, which looks to earn a season sweep of Orlando after toppling the Magic 102-86 on Nov. 4.
Orlando hobbles into the game Thursday still trying to account for the absence of its two leading scorers, Paolo Banchero (29 points per game) and Franz Wagner (24.4). Banchero hasn’t played since Oct. 30, and Wagner was injured on Dec. 6, with both stars dealing with oblique injuries.
Jalen Suggs (16.3 ppg) and Moritz Wagner (13.4) have stepped up to try to fill the major hole left by injuries, but the Magic enter on a two-game losing streak.
“I think we’ve got to improve our mental side a little bit,” Moritz Wagner said. “This is a game of energy. I know we like to use numbers to analyze and make sense of everything, but at the end of the day, this is a game. When you put your energy in the right place, good stuff will happen. I think we’ve got to mature a little bit as a group, everybody included. I think this is a great opportunity for us with our best two players out. Everybody gets an opportunity to play, and we’ve got to appreciate that.”
The Thunder and Magic surrender an average of 103.5 points per game, best in the NBA. The Thunder average 115.6 points per contest, while Orlando scores 107.1.
