The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers squared off tonight in a primetime matchup, with the purple and gold putting a three-game winning streak on the line against the defending champions. Mind games, however, began even before tip-off, with JJ Redick taking shots at the Thunder’s pesky defense.
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The Thunder have been struggling as of late. They are 5–5 in their last 10 games and are in danger of falling into a three-game losing streak tonight. This is largely because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has missed two straight games with an abdominal injury and will be out until after the All-Star break.
Regardless of their situation, Redick still respects the Thunder on defense. In fact, he recently talked about how they have remained physical and disruptive even with SGA out. But the coach also could not help chiming in on their overly aggressive approach to defense.
“We talk all the time about grabbing and holding; they do that on every possession. They do that for 48 minutes,” Redick shared with the Lakers media.
There is no question that the Thunder are a handsy team defensively. It is what helped them win their franchise’s first NBA championship last season. But they are also a smart defensive unit that plays together and can be overwhelming for opposing teams.
The advanced stats show that OKC boasts a historically dominant defense. They lead the league in defensive net rating at 105.9. They also give up the fewest points in the paint and fast break points, and they hold opponents to the lowest rim field goal percentage in the NBA. Altogether, they are simply dominant.
However, the Lakers are good at getting to the free-throw line. So, if what Redick says is true, when they are defended aggressively in the game, they should be compensated well. We will have to wait and see if that is what transpires.
The issue for Redick and LA is that Luka Doncic will be out tonight with a hamstring injury. He leads the team in free throws per game by a large margin. Furthermore, their second-best foul drawer, Austin Reaves, is on a minutes restriction.
This is to say that even without Gilgeous-Alexander, the Lakers could struggle against the defending champs. After all, they are getting All-Star Jalen Williams back for the first time in three weeks. They also nearly beat the Houston Rockets just one game ago with several players out due to injury.
All in all, Redick may be right that the Thunder get away with a lot of holding on defense. But so does every team nowadays. The difference may be that OKC is smart about it and takes the right gambles when needed, which is a mark of every great defense throughout NBA history.
