Injuries haven’t significantly disrupted the Oklahoma City Thunder as they near the quarter-pole of the regular season. Their performance continues to affirm that their rise to the top of the Western Conference standings last year was no fluke.
Despite missing Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso, both sidelined by hip injuries, the Thunder remain in first place in the West. Their 101-93 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday marked their fourth consecutive win and seventh in nine games. Oklahoma City will conclude a four-game road trip against the Houston Rockets—just 1.5 games back of the Thunder—on Sunday.
Without Holmgren, the Thunder have had to grind offensively, ranking 12th in the league in offensive rating (114.4 points per 100 possessions) over the nine games he has missed due to a pelvic fracture. Oklahoma City continues to be buoyed by its league-leading defense. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 36 points against the Lakers, although the team shot only 40.9 percent and missed 27 of 40 three-pointers.
Losing Holmgren has impacted the Thunder’s offensive efficiency, echoing similar issues they faced last season after a strong start. They established themselves as Western Conference title contenders by winning 22 of 31 games before 2024.
Only one of the Rockets’ six losses this season has been by a double-digit margin: a 126-107 road loss to the Thunder on November 8. Houston’s other five losses came by a combined 21 points, making their performance against Oklahoma City an outlier and worthy of close review.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting in just 29 minutes in the victory. As the third-leading scorer in the NBA (29.8 points per game), he poses a matchup challenge for most opponents. The Rockets aim to construct a sounder defensive strategy against him this time, using successful approaches against other high-scoring guards as their blueprint.
Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson are likely to share the responsibility of defending Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Rockets’ aggressiveness will be crucial to their plan.
