That Oklahoma City Thunder loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday was just a tease. With perimeter players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Theo Maledon and Lu Dort back from the injury list on Saturday, OKC posted a franchise record 83 points in the first half.
They played fast on offense and in transition, moved the ball well, shot extremely well and forced turnovers.
The Thunder scored the first 10 points of the game. By the end of the first quarter, they had 43 points, the most they had scored in an opening frame since Feb. 22, 2018, when they posted 44 against the Sacramento Kings.
Oklahoma City didn’t slow down in the second quarter, scoring 40 more points to take an 83-62 lead into the half.
Eighty-three points. Franchise record.
Where to start?
Let’s go with transition play. The Thunder had 32 fast break points. They scored 10 points off five turnovers in the first quarter and then forced two more turnovers in the second quarter. They seemingly looked to run every time downcourt, and it served them well.
Backup center Mike Muscala was perfect in the half, making all seven shots and scoring 22 points. Most impressively, this wasn’t even from his 3-point shooting. He went 6-for-6 from the free throw line and had two and-ones.
Normally a threat from 3, Muscala had as many three-point plays from getting fouled at the rim as he did from beyond the arc.
Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists while forward Darius Bazley had 11 points and four rebounds.
Kenrich Williams, again in the starting lineup in place of center Al Horford, had eight points, as did Lu Dort.
All nine Thunder players who appeared scored. As a team, they shot 60.4% from the field, 52.6% from 3 and 78.9% from the free throw line.
Perhaps more impressive than every Thunder player scoring is that every Thunder player except one tallied at least one assist. After tying a season-high 28 assists on Friday, Oklahoma City put itself on pace to smash that number with 22 in the first half on Saturday.
That excellent passing and ballhanding resulted in only three turnovers, one of which was a 24-second shot clock violation.
It’s an understatement to say this was the best half of Oklahoma City’s season. The Thunder dominated. The Timberwolves couldn’t do a thing to stop them.
Eighty-three points.
Tune into the second half now.
This post originally appeared on OKCThunderWire. Follow us on Facebook!