Thunder take seventh straight win from Magic

OKC 102 ORL 86

The Wagner brothers must have dissed THE MATRIX* or something. Jalen Williams went Beast Mode from the opening whistle, taking his 14 first quarter points from Orlando (3-5) and leading the Thunder's (7-0) charge ahead of the undermanned Magic. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a ho hum 21 and was deferential to start, racking 7 of his 9 assists in the first. Chet Holmgren was a beast as well, showing more of the impeccable instincts and impossible reach he's showcased on defense all season. He erased two shots, and any hope that the Magic could pressure the rim in his vicinity.

OKC's attack remained balanced on offense and suffocating on defense. And guess what happened in the third quarter? Oklahoma City extended its 15-point halftime lead to a relatively insurmountable 84-58. The fourth quarter pretended to matter for a while, as the second quarter had before it. Truth be told, Orlando's leftover offense just had no chance without Paolo Banchero. They were lucky to score 70, let alone 86.

NOTES

• OKC's squishy schedule is getting annoying. Not because I want to see more losses, but because I want to see some real competition.
• It was not so long ago that I struggled to know what was real from all of the tanking era garbage time. Now I'm taking a seven game stretch against inferior opponents with a grain of salt. What's realer: Alex Caruso's +/- thus far or Theo Maledon's counting stats in 2020?
• Chet was given the fourth quarter off. No injury, per Mark Daigneualt.
• I can't rationally complain about anything when virtually everything the Thunder are doing is going right. But I'm nothing if not irrational. I would not be thrilled that this much PT was going to rookies, if Isaiah Hartenstein weren't on the mend.
• My uneasiness with the rookies has little to do with their play, which has been noble. Exhibit A: the Dillon Jones/Mo Wagner boxout battle.
• There was a moment, right around when Isaiah Joe hit his third straight three, when it seemed the Thunder would punch up their opening dominance with an absurd margin of victory. Instead, they only won by 16. Oh well, a win is a win.
• A blowout is a blowout.
• *Get jdubpilled if you haven't already: