Weekend Bolts: Back on Top

Following the 107-100 win over the Miami Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder reclaimed the no. 1 spot in the Western Conference and hold the NBA's second-best record. With 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Thunder are on pace to win 57 games, which would be 17 more wins than they had all of last season.

In a scary moment earlier this week, Bismack Biyombo suddenly collapsed on the Thunder sidelines during the Portland game. Despite the scare, Biyombo said he's completely fine and attributed the moment to dehydration.

Though not yet at the level of the 73-win Golden State Warriors team (that the Thunder, coincidentally, nearly took down in the playoffs), Chris Herring (ESPN) dives into the offensive similarities between the Curry-led juggernauts and the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Thunder.

Chris Mannix (SI.com) says OKC is a legitimate contender. I mean, like, yeah.

There are reasons to believe in the Thunder. They begin with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City’s MVP candidate. Gilgeous-Alexander has stuffed the stat sheet all season, entering the game against the Lakers averaging 31.2 points (on 54.8% shooting) while collecting 5.6 rebounds and 6.5 assists. He is on pace to become only the third player in NBA history to average at least 30-plus points and two-plus steals while shooting 50% or better from the field.

The other two? Michael Jordan during his peak Chicago Bulls years. And Stephen Curry in 2015–16, when he was the unanimous MVP.

Though SGA has style, he has the substance to back up his MVP candidacy writes Kurt Helin (NBC Sports).

SGA and Chet get a lot of attention, but it's Jalen Williams who leads the Thunder in fourth-quarter scoring and is on a path to stardom, says Dan Devine (Yahoo Sports).

No cap.

Jasmyn Wimbish puts the Thunder among five teams who are in desperate need of a brand refresh. Forgive Jasmyn for saying OKC has "burnt orange" in the team's color palette. There is no burnt orange.