On January 4, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Thunder played away against the Hawks. The Thunder had a previous record of 23 wins and 9 losses, ranking second in the West, and their statistics this season are really dominant, with offensive and defensive efficiency in the top five in the league, scoring 121.5 points per game, fourth in the league, shooting 49.9 in the league, 39.3% three-point shooting rate, first in the league in free throw shooting rate of 85%, scoring 20.2 points in turnovers, and even averaging 6.7 blocks per game is also the first in the league! In addition to the absolute core Alexander (31.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.6 steals per game), the rapid rise of Jay (18+4+4 per game), Holmgren's stable and excellent performance (17.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game), the team formed a triumvirate framework.
In the past half month, the Timberwolves beat the No. 1 Timberwolves in the West by 23 points, beat the Thunder by 26 points, and defeated the league's No. 1 Celtics in an upset! In the words of the famous Perkins, the Thunder has become a championship contender. According to the calculations of the American media, the probability of the Thunder entering the playoffs this season is greater than 99%, and the probability of locking the top four in the West is more than 80%! In short, the Thunder is very strong! The opponent Hawks started with a record of 13 wins and 19 losses, ranking 11th in the East, although the team's offensive efficiency is sixth in the league and the league in points per game is third, but the defensive efficiency is the fourth from the bottom in the league, and the net efficiency value is still negative! According to the analysis of the American media, the Hawks will try to send Murray away before the trade deadline, and he will lift the trade restriction on January 10, including the Lakers and the Knicks.
The two teams met once in November, when the Thunder narrowly beat the Hawks by nine points. The Hawks started in this game: Trae Young + Murray + Sadiq Bey + Johnson + Capela, and the Thunder starters: Alexander + Keady + Dort + Jewe + Holmgren. Unexpectedly, the Thunder dug a hole at the beginning, Saddiq Bey hit three points, Murray made a jumper, Capela flew to make up for a dunk, and stopped the Thunder 7-0! In the middle of the game, Bogda scored 8 points in a row, Okongwu ate cakes, and the Hawks once opened a 14-point difference. In the second half, the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, Trae Young made a kill, and Alexander led Waters and Isaiacho to rain three-pointers. At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks led the Thunder 39-25.
Back in the second quarter, Waters and Matthews scored three points, Wiggins and Bogdanovic scored three points, and then the Thunder relied on Wallace and Isaiah Joe to shoot outside, but the Hawks were very stable on the offensive end: Bogda made a kill, Jalen Johnson continued to catch flying dunks, plus Okongwu's 2+1 rebound, Saddiq Bey's empty catch, the Thunder was about to collapse! At the end of the quarter, Alexander and Wiggins singled, plus Holmgren hit a three-pointer, the Thunder just hit a small climax, and the Hawks scored another wave of free throws! At the end of the quarter, Holmgren and Dort rained three-pointers, and Jalen Johnson dunked Holmgren! At halftime, the Hawks led the Thunder 76-59.
The Hawks made 23 free throws in the half, the Thunder only had nine, the Hawks had 16 points for Trae Young, Bogda 18 points, Jalen Johnson 14 points, Saddiq Bey 10 points, and only Wiggins had a double-double for the Thunder. At the start of the second half, Dort broke through the dunk, Keady hit three points, Holmgren ate Capela alone, the Thunder offense picked up, Jalen Johnson poured cold water on three points, and Capela responded with a cake dunk. In the middle of the period, Jay and Alexander made consecutive layups, and the difference returned to single digits! After Trata's jumper stopped the bleeding, Alexander hit 2+1 in a row, and Keady was also hitting a three-pointer. In the second half, the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, and every time the Thunder chased a difference of about 10 points, the Hawks made free throws to open up the difference! At the end of the third quarter, the Hawks made 116-103 Thunder, the Thunder made 18 free throws, and the Hawks made 31 free throws.
In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Okongwu received a violent dunk + a kill, Wiggins counterattacked and made a layup, and Holmgren received the air, and the score difference always hovered around 10 points. In the middle of the period, Jalen Johnson hit another three-pointer, and after Jayway scored a layup, Murray scored five points in a row on an inside and outside shot. In the last 3 minutes, Dort and Jayway chased only 10 points with three-point shots, and then Alexander scored 7 points in a row, the Hawks continued to play iron, and Alexander made a layup to chase only 3 points!
Thunder statistics, Alexander 33 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, Jawell 21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals, Holmgren 12 points and 3 rebounds, Dort 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Wiggins 13 points and 3 rebounds, Wallace 15 points. Hawks data, Trae Young 24 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals, Bogdanovic 23 points and 4 assists, Murray 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Johnson 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, Capela 12 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks, Saddiq Bey 10 points and 8 rebounds, Okongwu 11 points and 7 rebounds.