<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/oklahoma-city-thunder-dream-nightmare-seeding-matchup-scenarios-for-2025-nba-playoffs');   ga('set', 'title', 'Oklahoma City Thunder dream, nightmare seeding, matchup scenarios for 2025 NBA Playoffs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-reveals-why-Jalen-Williams-dropped-41-on-Spurs.jpg"></figure><h1>Oklahoma City Thunder dream, nightmare seeding, matchup scenarios for 2025 NBA Playoffs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T22:02:43-07:00">April 3rd, 10:02pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T22:02:43-07:00">April 3rd, 10:02pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-win-bulls-bad-omen-possible-nba-finals-opponent">Oklahoma City Thunder are in cruise control</a> at the moment; they are in the middle of an 11-game winning streak, with seven of those wins coming in blowout fashion. They have the best record in the NBA and have looked like every bit of the contending team that every critic and fan had them as entering the season.</p><p>The Thunder’s excellence goes beyond that of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s. They hang their hat on defense, and they force turnovers at such an incredible rate. To top it all off, they patched up their biggest weakness last season (rebounding) with the addition of Isaiah Hartenstein and bolstered what was already an impressive defensive core with the addition of Alex Caruso. In turn, they have posted the <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/defense?dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING" rel="noopener">league’s best defense</a> this season (in terms of points allowed per 100 possessions), allowing three fewer points per 100 than the second-ranked team in the association.</p><p>OKC has all the makings of a championship team. They have an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-stories/thunder-news-michael-jordan-history-shai-gilgeous-alexander-would-make-mvp-snub">unstoppable force leading their offense</a>, willing defenders who will sacrifice their body for the greater good of the team, and a head coach willing to make adjustments at any time. But playoff success, as many would say, still hinges on matchups.</p><p>While the Thunder should be the favorite in every playoff series they’re going to be in, especially when they’re on track for homecourt advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs, there still might be a matchup or two that they would much rather avoid.</p><p>With that said, here is the dream scenario that the Thunder would want to face and nightmare circumstance that they would want to avoid heading into the 2025 NBA playoffs.</p><h2><b>Dream scenario: Thunder face one of the Kings/Mavericks/Suns in the first round</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kevin-Durant-and-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-on-March-3-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As was established earlier, the Thunder should be the favorite in any playoff series they find themselves in. That’s how good they’ve been throughout the course of the 2024-25 season. But some matchups are easier than others, and if they somehow find themselves in a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-pj-washington-response-dallas-suns-play-in-tournament">first-round clash against one a nine or 10-seed in the conference</a>, then that would allow them to breathe even easier.</p><p>This is not to say that there is no upset potential should the Thunder face one of the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, or Phoenix Suns in the first round. But it’s hard to envision any scenario other than OKC coming out on top in such a series.</p><p>For one, the Thunder’s defense should overwhelm all of those teams; those three teams also don’t have much in the way of stopping OKC’s arsenal of weapons. The closest any of those teams has to someone who can slow down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is Keon Ellis from the Kings, but even then, in a seven-game series, OKC simply has too much two-way excellence for any of those teams to pose much of a challenge.</p><p>Some may argue that a difficult first-round matchup could serve the Thunder better. After all, they had an easy first-round matchup last season, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunders-fatal-flaw-will-doom-them-2024-nba-playoffs">sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans</a>, which may have cooled them off in preparation for their second-round clash against the Mavericks, which they lost. Either way, preserving health is crucial come playoff time, and the easier the matchup is, the more time they can give their important players valuable time to rest.</p><p>Now, it’s unlikely that one of those teams (all of which have a sub-.500 record, by the way) overcome whichever team loses the 7/8 play-in tournament matchup. But if that somehow happens, then the Thunder will be smiling from ear to ear. The key of course is to not take any team lightly, but this Thunder squad is well-coached and will be locked in as they look to redeem themselves from the sting of last season’s playoff exit.</p><h2>Nightmare scenario: Thunder face the Timberwolves in the first round, have to deal with one of the Lakers/Warriors in the second round</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Thunder-guard-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2-dribbles-the-ball-past-Minnesota-Timberwolves-guard-Anthony-Edwards.jpg"><figcaption>© Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Considering how excellent this Thunder team is, there is no such thing as a straight-up nightmare scenario for them in terms of seeding and matchups. The absolute nightmare scenario for them is an injury to one of their key guys (knock on wood), but again, any team that they face should be scared of them, not the other way around. Basically, OKC is any other playoff team’s nightmare scenario.</p><p>But in this thought exercise, the hardest (plausible) road for the Thunder on their quest to winning an NBA championship is to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/timberwolves-news-tie-unreal-franchise-record-comeback-win-thunder">face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs</a> and already having to deal with one of the Los Angeles Lakers or Golden State Warriors in the second round.</p><p>The Timberwolves may not be the team they were last season, but they have given OKC some fits this year; they have the size to muck things up for OKC, the perimeter defense to make things difficult for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company, as well as a true superstar in Anthony Edwards that they have to deal with. Minnesota has taken two games from OKC this year; meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers, a team that OKC could realistically face in the first round, have taken none.</p><p>If the Thunder defeat the Timberwolves, a matchup against a team led by LeBron James/Luka Doncic or Stephen Curry/Jimmy Butler will be the stuff of headaches, considering how much playoff experience those superstar players have.</p><p>As one would recall, it was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-honest-shai-gilgeous-alexander-breakdown-loss-thunder">Doncic who led the Mavericks last year</a> in their second-round triumph over the Thunder, so if there’s any team who knows how dangerous Doncic is in a playoff setting, it’s OKC. And to combine that with James? The Lakers will give the Thunder some difficult problems to solve even with their lack of size.</p><p>Meanwhile, Curry and the Warriors have been acting differently since the Butler trade, and they have gotten back that swagger that has fueled them to so much playoff success over the past decade. Butler also elevates his game come playoff time and Curry can turn games quickly with his outside marksmanship.</p><p>Nonetheless, the Thunder should be equipped to deal with such challenges, although they may have to traverse the hardest road to reach the NBA’s mountaintop.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Oklahoma City Thunder dream, nightmare seeding, matchup scenarios for 2025 NBA Playoffs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-lu-dort-dpoy-candidacy-clear-head-snake-assessment');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lu Dort’s DPOY candidacy gets clear ‘head of snake’ assessment');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Alex-Carusos-dirty-work-take-on-Lu-Dorts-DPOY-candidacy.jpg"></figure><h1>Lu Dort’s DPOY candidacy gets clear ‘head of snake’ assessment</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T18:11:54-07:00">April 3rd, 6:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T18:11:54-07:00">April 3rd, 6:11pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso joined <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-chet-holmgren-ridiculous-lu-dort-dpoy-disrespect">Chet Holmgren in endorsing Lu Dort for DPOY</a> as the 2024-25 campaign turns for its final stretch. With only six games remaining in the regular season, Dort’s teammates have voiced their opinions on Lu’s candidacy. At the same time, he has risen to having the <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=awards" rel="noopener">third-best odds</a> of winning Defensive Player of the Year, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.</p><p>Dort (+1000) is trailing Cleveland Cavs All-Star Evan Mobley (+130) and Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green (-160), who has the best odds of winning the award. Still, considering the magnitude of the Thunder’s defense this season, which leads the NBA in defensive efficiency, opponent floor percentage, and opponent average scoring margin, Caruso points to Dort as <a href="https://twitter.com/calmanza1007/status/1907467562474262764" rel="noopener">the key catalyst</a> to the Thunder dominating that end of the floor, per Thunder Wire’s Clemente Almanza.</p><p>“Our defense is at an all-time statistical rate of the best defense. Even outside of the stats, if you watch the games, we have an incredible amount of skill on the court, and he’s the head of the snake on that end of the floor,” Caruso said. “It’s not a coincidence everyone’s best player is under their average shooting pooly when they play us. That’s part of us helping him out, but he’s on the ball. He’s doing the dirty work.”</p><p>Alex Caruso would love to see Dort.</p><h2><b>Chet Holmgren blasts ‘ridiculous’ Lu Dort DPOY disrespect</b></h2><p>After Wednesday’s 119-103 win against the Pistons, Thunder forward <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-chet-holmgren-ridiculous-lu-dort-dpoy-disrespect">Chet Holmgren discussed Lu Dort’s DPOY odds</a>. For Holmgren, Dort doesn’t get <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1907683541204283565" rel="noopener">enough recognition</a> as one of the better defenders in the NBA.</p><p>“It’s extremely impressive. A lot of times, bigs get credit for cleaning up guards’ mistakes. But a lot of the time, what we see with Lu, especially when you’re playing coverages and actions, there is no action, and you’re not in coverage because he’s blowing up all the actions, he’s getting through, he’s playing 1-on-1 out there,” Holmgren said. “He’s basically playing 1-on-2 and still staying in front of somebody, which is extremely impressive with how good the level of talent is in the NBA.”</p><p>Dort’s defensive presence has remained consistent all season.</p><p>“We’ve been seeing it all year,” Holmgren added. “And it makes our job easier because then we’re kind of just standing back there watching him do his thing. He does that all night on a lot of nights against the best players, and it’s kind of ridiculous that he hasn’t gotten the recognition that he deserves for it. I think this year is definitely the year he should.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chet Holmgren’s DPOY take on Lu Dort:</p><p>“We've been seeing it all year… He does that all night on a lot of nights against the best players &amp; it's kind of ridiculous that he hasn't gotten the recognition that he deserves for it. I think this year is definitely the year he should” <a href="https://t.co/w9U7LVF31U">pic.twitter.com/w9U7LVF31U</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1907683541204283565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Thunder will face the Rockets on Friday.</p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lu Dort’s DPOY candidacy gets clear ‘head of snake’ assessment

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-pistons-announcer-roasted-petty-shai-gilgeous-alexander-hate');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pistons announcer roasted by Thunder fans for spewing petty Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hate');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Gilgeous-Alexander-warms-up-1.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pistons announcer roasted by Thunder fans for spewing petty Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hate</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T14:39:22-07:00">April 3rd, 2:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T14:39:22-07:00">April 3rd, 2:39pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Wednesday evening, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunders-mark-daigneault-stresses-critical-habits-despite-massive-standings-lead">Oklahoma City Thunder picked up</a> their 64th win of the season with a home victory over the Detroit Pistons. As has so often been the case, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-edges-out-nikola-jokic-in-espn-mvp-straw-poll">MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander</a> led the way with 33 points in this one, dominating the game on both ends of the floor.</p><p>While most of the fans in attendance were thrilled by the electrifying performance from the Thunder’s superstar, one person who wasn’t so happy with what was unfolding was Pistons play by play announcer George Blaha, who had some not-so-friendly <a href="https://x.com/jokicgoatic15/status/1907712772827193407" rel="noopener">things to say</a> about Gilgeous-Alexander as he took free throws with under a minute remaining in the Thunder victory.</p><p>“A measly three assists for Gilgeous-Alexander and 10/26 shooting,” said Blaha, per Jokicism on X. “He may be the MVP but he’s not the best player in the world. The Joker is the best player in the world. He had a 61-point triple-double last night and had more than three assists.”</p><p>“The Joker” would of course refer to Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who indeed put together a historic performance 24 hours prior.</p><p>The salty commentary drew a host of reactions from Thunder fans in the comment section.</p><p>“The difference is one is winning games,” noted one user.</p><p>Another fan referenced a recent altercation between the Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves in making their point.</p><p>“Detroit and Minnesota are the two saltiest NBA organizations from top to bottom. Coaches, players, media, fans. No surprise they brawled the other night. Denver is climbing,” they wrote.</p><h2><b>A historic MVP race</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Gilgeous-Alexander-warms-up-1.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Nikola Jokic is putting together arguably the greatest offensive season in NBA history, but the Nuggets’ lackluster performance in the standings as well as potential voter fatigue from his winning three out of the last four MVP’s have caused many to view Thunder star Gilgeous-Alexander as the frontrunner to win the award.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander has led the Thunder–the league’s youngest team–to having its best record by a significant margin, and he’s also shown his prowess on both ends of the floor, whereas Jokic is mainly known for offense.</p><p>In any case, the MVP award will be announced during the first few weeks of the NBA playoffs, which Thunder fans hope will be the middle of a run to the NBA Finals.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pistons announcer roasted by Thunder fans for spewing petty Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hate

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-chet-holmgren-ridiculous-lu-dort-dpoy-disrespect');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Chet Holmgren blasts ‘ridiculous’ Lu Dort DPOY disrespect');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Chet-Holmgren-blasts-ridiculous-Lu-Dort-DPOY-disrespect.jpg"></figure><h1>Thunder’s Chet Holmgren blasts ‘ridiculous’ Lu Dort DPOY disrespect</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T11:26:35-07:00">April 3rd, 11:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T12:00:58-07:00">April 3rd, 12:00pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>OKLAHOMA CITY — After the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Detroit Pistons 119-103, Chet Holmgren explained why Lu Dort deserves recognition for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award. In a win where Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ties-michael-jordan-streak-amid-mvp-race">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied Michael Jordan’s record</a> for scoring 20+ points in 69 consecutive games offensively, Holmgren highlighted what Dort meant in the win defensively.</p><p>It’s what Lu has been doing all season long. The fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 16-point victory helped lead to a 12-0 Thunder run. Holmgren says Dort <a href="https://x.com/Joe_Sway/status/1907683541204283565" rel="noopener">doesn’t get enough credit</a>.</p><p>“It’s extremely impressive. A lot of times, bigs get credit for cleaning up guards’ mistakes. But a lot of the time, what we see with Lu, especially when you’re playing coverages and actions, there is no action, and you’re not in coverage because he’s blowing up all the actions, he’s getting through, he’s playing 1-on-1 out there,” Holmgren said. “He’s basically playing 1-on-2 and still staying in front of somebody, which is extremely impressive with how good the level of talent is in the NBA.”</p><p>Dort recently cracked <a href="https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/nba/nba-defensive-player-of-the-year-odds-bm23/" rel="noopener">the top-three best odds</a> to win DPOY, per BetMGM. However, for Holmgren, it’s long overdue.</p><p>“We’ve been seeing it all year,” Holmgren added. “And it makes our job easier because then we’re kind of just standing back there watching him do his thing. He does that all night on a lot of nights against the best players, and it’s kind of ridiculous that he hasn’t gotten the recognition that he deserves for it. I think this year is definitely the year he should.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chet Holmgren’s DPOY take on Lu Dort:</p><p>“We've been seeing it all year… He does that all night on a lot of nights against the best players &amp; it's kind of ridiculous that he hasn't gotten the recognition that he deserves for it. I think this year is definitely the year he should” <a href="https://t.co/w9U7LVF31U">pic.twitter.com/w9U7LVF31U</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1907683541204283565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Lu Dort connected on two of his four threes of the night as part of the Thunder’s 12-0 game-ending run. He finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and one steal. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 33 points led all scorers. Jalen Williams had 23 points and five rebounds, and Chet Holmgren added 22 and 11 rebounds.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander addresses Thunder’s late-season goals</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunders-mark-daigneault-stresses-critical-habits-despite-massive-standings-lead">Mark Daigneault stressed the importance of fundamentals</a> between now and the end of the regular season, and Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander agreed.</p><p>With six games left, Gilgeous-Alexander <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndrnv9iFnqo&amp;t=108s" rel="noopener">explained it’s a chance to improve</a>.</p><p>“Every game is an opportunity to learn and get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “No matter what it looks like, we try to get those two things out of the game, whether it’s a win or a loss. I always say every game is going to look different. Every game is going to present its different challenges. It’s how we go about that.”</p><p>The Thunder will face the Rockets on Friday, and they have a chance to extend their winning streak to 12.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Chet Holmgren blasts ‘ridiculous’ Lu Dort DPOY disrespect

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-carmelo-anthony-shai-gilgeous-alexander-dwyane-wade-comparison');   ga('set', 'title', 'Carmelo Anthony drops Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Dwyane Wade comparison');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander.jpg"><figcaption>© Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Carmelo Anthony drops Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Dwyane Wade comparison</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T11:09:17-07:00">April 3rd, 11:09am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T11:09:17-07:00">April 3rd, 11:09am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-edges-out-nikola-jokic-in-espn-mvp-straw-poll">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being in the MVP race</a>, former Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony gave <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1907848806848200793" rel="noopener">a penny for his thoughts</a>. He sees Gilgeous-Alexander as one of his banana boat buddies.</p><p>https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1907848806848200793</p><p>“This is the beginning of a run for him,” Anthony said. “He’s the evolution of a Penny Hardaway, of a Dwyane Wade… And he’s James [Harden] a little bit.”</p><p>Being compared to those three players is an exceptional achievement. After all, Gilgeous-Alexander came second in the 2023-24 MVP race, losing to Nikola Jokic.</p><p>This year, he has been the frontrunner. For starters, the Thunder star is leading the NBA in points per game. He also leads the NBA for a second consecutive season in free throws made per game.</p><p>While the jokes fly in, it cannot discredit how lethal Gilgeous-Alexander has been on the floor. The Thunder have the best record in the Western Conference.</p><p>They secured the No. 1 seed and did so convincingly. The Thunder are one of the most balanced teams in the league. They are Top 5 in points per game, and opponents points per game.</p><p>The same goes for the offensive and defensive ratings. Oklahoma City’s depth is unmatched, yet everyone knows Gilgeous-Alexander is the main cog in the engine.</p><h2><b>Carmelo Anthony sees Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as elite</b></h2><p>Being elite was something that many didn’t think would happen with Gilgeous-Alexander. While he showed major promise at Kentucky, no one thought he would be this good.</p><p>Every season, the Thunder guard has made strides in at least one area of his game. Much of the work behind the scenes is coming to fruition.</p><p>Now, the team has the best record in the Western Conference, and <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/42358288/espn-2025-nba-futures-odds-betting-championship-finals-conference-playoffs" rel="noopener">an easy favorite</a> to make the NBA Finals. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks in seven games last season, there is even more motivation than before.</p><p>Going back to Anthony’s point though, Gilgeous-Alexander and Wade have similar styles.</p><p>For starters, both love to get inside the paint and draw a barrage of fouls. However, Wade used his athleticism to dunk over defenders and create acrobatic finishes.</p><p>For the Thunder star, he is a bit different. He used angles, put English on the ball, and utilized spacing more than anything to get inside. He doesn’t have to dunk over everyone, even though he’s shown that he can.</p><p>At the end of the day, Anthony sees <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-nearing-historic-michael-jordan-feat">Gilgeous-Alexander as elite</a>. Wade had a Hall of Fame career, and the same can be said for the potential 2024 MVP.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Carmelo Anthony drops Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Dwyane Wade comparison

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunders-mark-daigneault-stresses-critical-habits-despite-massive-standings-lead');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Mark Daigneault stresses ‘critical’ habits despite massive standings lead');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mark-Daigneault-stresses-critical-habits-despite-massive-standings-lead.jpg"></figure><h1>Thunder’s Mark Daigneault stresses ‘critical’ habits despite massive standings lead</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T01:00:26-07:00">April 3rd, 1:00am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T01:00:26-07:00">April 3rd, 1:00am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Detroit Pistons 119-103, extending its winning streak to 11 straight as head coach Mark Daigneault watches his team cruise toward the finish line of a historic regular season. Despite All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ties-michael-jordan-streak-amid-mvp-race" rel="noopener">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tying Michael Jordan for 69 consecutive</a> 20+ point performances in the third quarter, the Pistons cut their deficit to four in the final frame before the Thunder went on a 12-0 run to seal the game.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander’s 33 points led all five Thunder starters in double figures. All-Star Jalen Williams finished with 23 points, Chet Holmgren chipped in a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds), four assists, six blocks, and two steals, and Lu Dort added 14 points and seven rebounds.</p><p>For Daigneault, these wins boil down to his team <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1907671084914106717" rel="noopener">ironing out the basics</a> before the postseason.</p><p>“A lot of it is just fundamentals that are relevant every single night in the NBA, including in the postseason, and keeping those sharp and top of mind is critical,” Daigneault said. “As we face different opponents, we see different styles. We saw three of the fastest transition offensive teams in the league, and then tonight, a very physical, high-pressure team defensively that really forces you to play with a lot of force — and Houston’s similar.</p><p>“A combination of our fundamentals and what our opponents will throw at us. We’ve played quality opponents for a stretch now, and have quality opponents coming up. Everybody has something to play for. It’s good. It sharpens our blade. It tests us, forces us to rise to a certain level if we want to win,” Daigneault concluded.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mark Daigneault on how the Thunder benefit from their recent wins:</p><p>“We saw three of the fastest transition offensive teams in the league, and then tonight, a very physical, high-pressure team defensively that really forces you to play with a lot of force. And Houston's similar” <a href="https://t.co/PtcJjVyiv0">pic.twitter.com/PtcJjVyiv0</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1907671084914106717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tops Nikola Jokic in ESPN polls</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mark-Daigneault-stresses-critical-habits-despite-massive-standings-lead-2.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-edges-out-nikola-jokic-in-espn-mvp-straw-poll">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander beat Nikola Jokic for MVP</a> in the latest ESPN poll. Still, with signs pointing toward Gilgeous-Alexander winning MVP, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndrnv9iFnqo&amp;t=108s" rel="noopener">his focus</a> remains the same as Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault: improving as a team alongside his teammates.</p><p>“Every game is an opportunity to learn and get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “No matter what it looks like, we try to get those two things out of the game, whether it’s a win or a loss. I always say every game is going to look different. Every game is going to present its different challenges. It’s how we go about that. Being able to adapt on the fly, and come out on the winning side of challenges is a good habit to create.”</p><p>After a perfect 4-0 homestand, the Thunder will face the Rockets on the road on Friday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Mark Daigneault stresses ‘critical’ habits despite massive standings lead

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ties-michael-jordan-streak-amid-mvp-race');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ties Michael Jordan streak amid MVP race');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Thunder-news-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexanders-latest-30-point-game-puts-him-in-Michael-Jordan-company.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ties Michael Jordan streak amid MVP race</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T22:35:43-07:00">April 2nd, 10:35pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T22:35:43-07:00">April 2nd, 10:35pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-downplays-significance-setting-franchise-record">Oklahoma City Thunder continue to dominate</a> all of their opponents as they extended their current winning streak to 11 after toppling the Cade Cunningham-less Detroit Pistons, 119-103, on Wednesday night. The Thunder still have a shot at crossing the 70-win mark, and it’s thanks in large part to the continued stellar play of MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who put up 33 points, six rebounds, and three assists in their most recent victory.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander also has an opportunity to cross the 70-mark in terms of consecutive 20-point games, as he extended his current streak to 69 such contests — which is good for the <a href="https://x.com/SNstats/status/1907631211091996732" rel="noopener">fourth-best 20-point streak</a> in league history, matching Michael Jordan’s longest such streak, according to Sportsnet on X (formerly Twitter).</p><p>Only two other players have longer 20-point streaks than the one the Thunder star is currently on — Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson. During the 1963-64 season, Robertson scored 20 or more in 76 consecutive games, while Chamberlain, to no one’s surprise, has two separate 80-game 20-point streaks — one during the 1961-62 season and one during the 1963-64 campaign.</p><p>To be in the company of such elite scorers is no mean feat for Gilgeous-Alexander, and his consistency is the number one reason as to how the Thunder have become the dominant team they’ve been over the past two seasons. Even the best go through off nights, but somehow, Gilgeous-Alexander is immune to such games, and OKC has been very difficult to beat because of it.</p><p>It’s not quite clear how many regular-season games Gilgeous-Alexander will be playing from here on out with the Thunder having locked down the one-seed already. Preserving his health will be the team’s number one priority as they look to redeem themselves from their heartbreaking second-round exit last year.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win his first MVP amid dominant Thunder season?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-1.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Nikola Jokic may be averaging a triple-double, but it looks as though the voters will be favoring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race, and for good reason. There is still merit in rewarding the best player on the league’s best team, especially when the statistical case isn’t exactly as lopsided as some Jokic supporters would suggest.</p><p>It’s not quite fair if Gilgeous-Alexander would be penalized for having better teammates than Jokic, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s consistency and incredible play all throughout the season <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-edges-out-nikola-jokic-in-espn-mvp-straw-poll">makes him a deserving MVP winner,</a> especially when he’s playing for a Thunder team that remains within shouting distance of a 70-win campaign.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ties Michael Jordan streak amid MVP race

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-edges-out-nikola-jokic-in-espn-mvp-straw-poll');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander edges out Nikola Jokic in ESPN MVP straw poll');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-edges-out-Nikola-Jokic-in-ESPN-MVP-straw-poll.jpg"></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander edges out Nikola Jokic in ESPN MVP straw poll</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T18:48:53-07:00">April 2nd, 6:48pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T18:48:53-07:00">April 2nd, 6:48pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The MVP discussion is only going to get more heated the closer we get to the actual awarding of the trophy. At this point, there are <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-no-question-mvp-endorsement-from-tyrese-haliburton">only two likely winners of the award</a> for the 2024-25 season: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, with the latter being the reigning MVP. And it looks as though there will be a first-time winner of the award, if the latest ESPN straw poll is any indication.</p><p>Among 100 media members polled by ESPN, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/44492655/nba-mvp-straw-poll-100-insiders-rank-sga-jokic-lebron-more" rel="noopener">77 of them</a> gave their first-place MVP vote to the Thunder star, with the remaining 23 rewarding Jokic with his fourth MVP award. There is established precedent that whoever wins in ESPN’s straw poll ends up being the actual winner of the award come season’s end, which bodes well for Gilgeous-Alexander’s chances of bagging home the NBA’s most prestigious individual award.</p><p>With the Thunder dominating any and every team that comes their way en route to having the best record in the NBA (at present), <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-why-bias-shouldnt-matter-shai-gilgeous-alexander-mvp-pick">Gilgeous-Alexander has such a strong case to win his first MVP award.</a> He’s entering their Wednesday night clash against the Detroit Pistons averaging a league-leading 32.8 points per game, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.4 assists on 52/38/90 shooting splits. He’s also a defensive disruptor, averaging 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest.</p><p>Meanwhile, Jokic’s case hinges more on his individual dominance and how the Nuggets still collapse whenever he’s not on the floor (<a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612743&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=203999" rel="noopener">he has a net rating of nearly +16</a>). He recently <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/denver-nuggets/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-defends-russell-westbrook-late-mistakes-cost-denver-vs-timberwolves">dropped a 61-point triple-double</a> and yet Denver still lost. It might be difficult to argue against Jokic’s bonkers averages of 29.7 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game, but the Thunder are 16.5 games better than the Nuggets and team success still has to be rewarded at the end of the day — especially when the disparity between the two players isn’t that huge anyway.</p><h2><b>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander likely to win his first MVP award</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/THUNDER-ALL-STAR-SHAI-GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER_9d4d3d.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>When the Thunder acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander via the Paul George trade in 2019, little did everyone know that he would blossom into one of the best players in the association and a future MVP. But Gilgeous-Alexander has done nothing but get better since coming into the league, and his efforts in working on himself look like they’re going to be vindicated in a huge way.</p><p>The key now, of course, is for Gilgeous-Alexander to sustain this level of play in the playoffs as he looks to lead a stacked Thunder team all the way to the promised land.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander edges out Nikola Jokic in ESPN MVP straw poll

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-why-bias-shouldnt-matter-shai-gilgeous-alexander-mvp-pick');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jalen Williams on why bias shouldn’t matter with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP pick');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Jalen-Williams-explains-why-his-bias-shouldnt-matter-with-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-MVP-pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Jalen Williams on why bias shouldn’t matter with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP pick</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T12:24:01-07:00">April 2nd, 12:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T12:24:01-07:00">April 2nd, 12:24pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams chimed in on his fellow <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-mvp-mondays-24-25-shai-gilgeous-alexander-unanimous">All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP race</a>. Before Indiana Pacers guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-no-question-mvp-endorsement-from-tyrese-haliburton">Tyrese Haliburton named Gilgeous-Alexander his MVP</a>, Williams let it be known that, beyond the bias of being on the same team as Shai, SGA should be named this year’s Most Valuable Player.</p><p>Williams <a href="https://www.basketballinsiders.org/news/jalen-williams-exclusive-shai-gilgeous-alexander-mvp/" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP, per Basketball Insiders’ D.J. Siggiq.</p><p>“I think he’s the MVP,” Williams said. “Obviously, I’m his teammate, so I’m very inclined to say that. From what I see, the amount of Michael Jordan comparisons and the accolades and all that, I think it would be a very big disservice to him if he’s not the MVP, just based on what he’s been able to accomplish this year.”</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander is on pace to become the first NBA player since Michael Jordan to average 30-plus points on at least 50% shooting, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and one block. Jordan reached that feat in both seasons and secured an MVP award.</p><p>“You look at him last year and everybody kind of had the question, what else could he possibly do to improve?” says Williams. “Obviously, he comes into this year twice as good as he was last year. I think that’s testament to how hard he works and how much better he’s able to get, just through his years to look at his progression as a player, which is something I think every athlete, basketball or not, you always wanna get better every year.</p><p>“The fact that he’s able to do that at an MVP-caliber [player] every year is very impressive,” Williams concluded.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.8 points on 52.2% shooting, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game this season.</p><h2><b>Tyrese Haliburton endorses Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-and-Jalen-Williams.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams isn’t the only player who believes his teammate is the MVP. After Saturday’s 132-111 loss to the Thunder, Pacers’ <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-no-question-mvp-endorsement-from-tyrese-haliburton">Tyrese Haliburton labeled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP</a>. While reminding reporters he doesn’t have a vote, he <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelXLorenzi/status/1906193790836367511" rel="noopener">believes</a> NBA players would agree with his MVP take, per The Oklahoman’s Joel Lorenzi.</p><p>“I grew up in an era where the best player on the best team wins MVP every time. I think our era is kind of getting away from that a little bit, which is fine, because I think Jokic and those guys are warranted when they win,” said Haliburton. “But I think you take away them having the best record, he would still be the MVP, and then you throw on the fact that he has the best record, he kind of makes it an easy decision.”</p><p>The Thunder will host the Pistons on Wednesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jalen Williams on why bias shouldn’t matter with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP pick

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-nearing-historic-michael-jordan-feat');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearing historic Michael Jordan feat');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-nearing-historic-Michael-Jordan-feat-after-latest-honor.jpg"></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearing historic Michael Jordan feat</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T09:26:51-07:00">April 2nd, 9:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T09:26:51-07:00">April 2nd, 9:26am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Amid Oklahoma City <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-mvp-mondays-24-25-shai-gilgeous-alexander-unanimous">Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP race</a> with Denver Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic, the Thunder’s leading candidate earned the Western Conference’s <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/monthly-nba-awards-march-2025" rel="noopener">Player of the Month</a> award for March. In doing so, Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan for winning the award three times in a single season. Jordan has only won it twice in the same campaign. However, SGA is on pace to tie MJ for his elite averages.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander is on pace to become only the second player in NBA history to average 30-plus points on at least 50% shooting, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and one block, per Thunder PR. Jordan did this twice throughout his career in 1987-88 and 1990-91. He won the MVP award in both seasons (1988, 1991), which accounted for two of the five he accumulated throughout his career.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.8 points on 52.2% shooting, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game this season. He’s the odds-on favorite to win his first Most Valuable Player award, while Jokic, the league’s reigning MVP with three to his name, is trailing as a close second.</p><h2><b>Thunder’s Mark Daigneault on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ascension</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-next-to-Mark-Daigneault.jpg"><figcaption>Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/mark-daigneault-reveals-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ascended-stardom">Mark Daigneault addressed how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ascended</a> to an MVP candidate. While Gilgeous-Alexander is having a Michael Jordan-like campaign, Daigneault <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1906190230924800099?ref_src" rel="noopener">said</a> speed and recognizing what’s always best for the team stand out most.</p><p>“The speed he’s playing with; in transition, inside of actions, and on the catch is a huge jump,” Daigneault said. “I think his defense has really improved over that time. At that time, he’s a young player, he’s in his second year; your scope as a player is narrow when you’re in your second year. You’re just trying to stay in the NBA, establish yourself, figure out how good you are. You tend to be tight. Over time, he’s just widened that lens to where now I think he sees almost everything through a team lens.”</p><p>For Daigneault, Gilgeous-Alexander’s commitment to improving his teammates has led to tremendous growth.</p><p>“Despite the fact that he’s on the doorstep of winning an MVP award last year and this year, he sees things through a broader lens, and sees things through the lens of the team,” Daigneault added. “So, he makes incremental growth almost monthly, it seems. But if you zoom all the way back, it’s a great question. The speed on offense, the impact on defense, and then the leadership, and team orientation, it’s like night and day. He’s really done an impressive job.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mark Daigneault on the strides Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has made with the Thunder:</p><p>“The speed he’s playing with… his defense has really improved… now, I think he sees almost everything through a team lens despite the fact that he’s on the doorstep of winning an MVP award” <a href="https://t.co/nXiqYktSGY">pic.twitter.com/nXiqYktSGY</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1906190230924800099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will look to extend their 10-game winning streak in Wednesday’s matchup against the Pistons.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearing historic Michael Jordan feat

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/detroit-pistons/is-cade-cunningham-playing-tonight-pistons-thunder-injury-report');   ga('set', 'title', 'Is Cade Cunningham playing tonight? Pistons vs. Thunder injury report');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Pistons_news__Is_Cade_Cunningham_playing_vs._Hornets_Latest_update_on_injury_return_1.webp"></figure><h1>Is Cade Cunningham playing tonight? Pistons vs. Thunder injury report</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T07:59:11-07:00">April 2nd, 7:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T08:17:35-07:00">April 2nd, 8:17am</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Detroit Pistons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Detroit Pistons will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Paycom Center. Cade Cunningham <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2025-04-02_10AM.pdf" rel="noopener">is doubtful on the team’s injury report</a> due to a left calf contusion.</p><p>Here’s everything we know about Cunningham’s injury and playing status vs. the Thunder</p><p><i><b>*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/nba/?irad=356361&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(Get Access | Save $30)</a>*</b></i></p><h2>Cade Cunningham injury status vs. Thunder</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Cade-Cunningham-runs-the-teams-offensive-set.jpg"><figcaption>Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/detroit-pistons/pistons-news-cade-cunningham-day-to-day-injury-diagnosis">Cunningham has missed the Pistons’ previous four games</a> due to his calf injury. Detroit listed him as doubtful for Sunday’s 123-104 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves before ruling him out. Another doubtful tag indicates he still has more hurdles to clear before returning.</p><p>Cunningham has broken out this season while leading the ascending Pistons. The first-time All-Star has averaged 25.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 9.2 assists on 46/35/86 shooting splits while appearing in 66 of 75 games. He and Nikola Jokic are the NBA’s only players averaging over 25 points, six assists and nine dimes per game this season.</p><p>Detroit has managed to win three of its last four games with Cunningham sidelined. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/detroit-pistons/pistons-news-draymond-green-bold-cade-cunningham-championship-prediction">The Pistons are jockeying for playoff position</a> with seven games remaining. They are in fifth place, one game ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in sixth and two games behind the Indiana Pacers in fourth.</p><p>However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-news-donte-divincenzo-isaiah-stewart-5-players-suspended-timberwolves-pistons-brawl">Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland and Marcus Sasser will be sidelined</a> on Wednesday while serving a suspension following Sunday’s Minnesota Timberwolves fight.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Thunder have won 17 of their last 18 games and have nearly clinched the NBA’s top seed. Oklahoma City holds a three-game lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers with seven left on their schedule.</p><p>So, regarding whether Cade Cunningham is playing tonight vs. the Timberwolves, the Pistons appear to be approaching their top player’s injury cautiously with the playoffs approaching. Barring a late upgrade, the star guard will miss his fifth consecutive game.</p><h2><b>Pistons injury report</b></h2><p>Cade Cunningham: Doubtful – Injury/Illness – Left Calf; Contusion</p><p>Tobias Harris: Probable – Injury/Illness – Right Achilles; Tendinopathy</p><p>Ronald Holland II: Out – League Suspension</p><p>Jaden Ivey: Out – Injury/Illness – Left Fibula; Fracture</p><p>Marcus Sasser: Out – League Suspension</p><p>Isaiah Stewart: Out – League Suspension</p><h2><b>Thunder injury report</b></h2><p>Ousmane Dieng: Out – Injury/Illness – Left Calf; Strain</p><p>Alex Ducas: Out – Injury/Illness – Right Quad; Strain</p><p>Ajay Mitchell: Out – Injury/Illness – Right Great Toe; Surgery</p><p>Nikola Topic: Out – Injury/Illness – Left Knee; Surgery</p><p>Aaron Wiggins: Out – Injury/Illness – Left Achilles; Tendinitis</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Is Cade Cunningham playing tonight? Pistons vs. Thunder injury report

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-news-josh-giddey-reacts-revenge-game-failure-return-okc');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bulls’ Josh Giddey reacts to revenge game failure in return to OKC');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bulls-news-Josh-Giddey-reacts-to-28-point-revenge-game-failure-in-return-to-OKC.jpg"></figure><h1>Bulls’ Josh Giddey reacts to revenge game failure in return to OKC</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T08:17:27-07:00">April 1st, 8:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T08:17:27-07:00">April 1st, 8:17am</time><address><a>Scotty White</a>Scotty White is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has been in the sports journalism industry since 2020. He has covered athletics at the University of Michigan and is now serving as an Associate Editor, Chicago Bulls beat writer, and Michigan football reporter at ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Josh Giddey made his return to OKC on Monday night as the Chicago Bulls took on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Giddey spent the first three seasons of his career with the Thunder before being traded to the Bulls during this past offseason. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-news-view-josh-giddeys-half-court-game-winner-lakers-cinema">Giddey has been one of the best players in the NBA</a> during the last month, but that didn’t show on Monday night as he finished with just 15 points in a 145-117 loss.</p><p>The Thunder were simply too much for the Bulls to handle on Monday night. Things <a href="https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/bulls-struggle-against-thunder-fall-to-10th-place-in-eastern-conference" rel="noopener">quickly got out of hand</a> in the game as Oklahoma City ended up leading by over 40 points, and Chicago emptied the bench.</p><p>“We couldn’t make a shot (3-of-19 threes at half); they are the best defensive team in the league,” Giddey said after the game, according to an article from NBA.com. “They make it tough on you. We turned the ball over too much, myself included. We dug ourselves a hole and couldn’t find a way out of it; that is the best team in the league for a reason. If we want to get up to par with teams like this, we’ve got to be way better. And if we want to be serious about the team we want to be or where we want to get to, tonight was not good enough from myself or a lot of guys.”</p><p>Giddey wasn’t the only player who struggled for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-news-coby-white-joins-michael-jordan-franchise-history-award-win">Bulls. Coby White has also been red-hot lately</a>, and he was held to just seven points. The Bulls have been winning a lot of games recently because of the way that White and Giddey have taken over contests. If they combine for 22 points, Chicago isn’t going to win a lot of games.</p><p>The Thunder are one of the best teams in the NBA this season, and there is no shame in losing to that squad. However, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan wasn’t happy with how his team looked on Monday.</p><p>“I was really disappointed, quite honestly,” Billy Donovan said. “We could have played our very best game and still not won, but I was disappointed. They are a very good team and have been the most consistent team in the league. The things we talked about coming into the game were taking care of the basketball, especially coming off the last game against Dallas where we gave up turnovers. We talked about their slapping and reaching and grabbing and being active with their hands, and when the ball does get to the paint they are going to collapse. But I don’t think we gave ourselves enough of a chance.”</p><p>Losing is one thing, but not showing any competitiveness is another. The Bulls were dominated from the very start of the game, and that was very discouraging to see based on the way that the team has looked this past month.</p><p>The Bulls had won nine of their last 11 games before their home contest against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. The team now has a couple of disappointing losses in a row, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting/raptors-vs-bulls-prediction-odds-pick-spread-4-1-2025">Chicago needs to end the skid on Tuesday night at home against the Toronto Raptors</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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