The Oklahoma City Thunder are officially in the play-in tournament race.
Following an impressive 37-22 fourth-quarter advantage that capped the Thunder’s third consecutive win and wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 3-1 record, the Thunder are tied with the Phoenix Suns (21-23) for 10th in the Western Conference.
That means with 38 games left in their season, the Thunder are in the playoff race.
The Thunder left New York with a 112-102 win over the red-hot Brooklyn Nets, who were 18-3 in their previous 21 games entering Sunday.
The Thunder played a close contest against the Nets, who were missing Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons. Durant continues to miss time with an MCL sprain, and Simmons was a late scratch due to back soreness.
The game offered 16 lead changes and seven ties. Neither team led by more than 12 points.
Promisingly, the non-SGA lineups continued to hold their own.
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting the first six minutes of the final quarter in a five-point game, Josh Giddey led a 24-12 run. Giddey finished with 11 points and three assists in 10 fourth-quarter minutes.
On the night, Giddey scored a career-high 28 points. Gilgeous-Alexander also finished with 28 points. OKC’s young backcourt combined for an impressive 56 points.
The Thunder shot 44-of-90 (44.4%) from the field and went 12-of-31 (38.7%) from 3. The trio of Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey and Lu Dort combined to score 78 of OKC’s 112 points.
For the Nets, they shot an inefficient 39-of-91 (42.9%) from the field and went a cold 12-of-41 (29.3%) from 3.
Seth Curry led the Nets in scoring with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting off the bench. Nic Claxton collected 17 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Kyrie Irving was held to 15 points on 7-of-20 shooting and 1-of-7 from 3.
The Thunder left Oklahoma City for an extensive road trip with many looking at the reverse standings and lottery odds. They return to Oklahoma City a little over a week later with the focus shifted to where they stand in the actual NBA standings.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.