The upward trajectory continues for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder enter Sunday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets in Oklahoma City on a three-game winning streak and having won six of their past seven games.
Two of those six wins have come against Denver, the defending champion, and Oklahoma City has beaten Minnesota and the Clippers once each, giving the Thunder victories over each of the other top four teams in the Western Conference over the past two weeks.
But Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said his team has more room for growth.
“We’re not championship level yet,” Gilgeous-Alexander said Friday after Oklahoma City’s 119-93 win at Denver. “We’re heading in the right direction for sure. I can feel it. I think guys on TV, I think everyone can feel it. We’re getting better.
“You just don’t want to get complacent and stay on that track and keep attacking day in and day out and, hopefully, we can get there one day.”
During their three-game winning streak, Oklahoma City is shooting 55 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from beyond the arc.
A not-insignificant part of that has been the success of rookie Chet Holmgren.
Holmgren is 26 for 41 (63.4 percent) from the field during that span, but it’s not just his own scoring where Holmgren has helped the Thunder on the offensive end.
“He’s a threat on the court in so many ways, and him drawing that attention only makes it easier for the guys around him, including myself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 36.7 points over the past three games, shooting 66.1 percent from the floor.
Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring in bunches despite attempting fewer than 3.5 3-pointers per game.
While Oklahoma City is surging, the Nets have struggled, losing back-to-back games and seven of their past nine. Brooklyn’s only two wins during that stretch came over the Detroit Pistons.
The Nets have given up nearly 122 points per game in that nine-game stretch and opponents are shooting 49.5 percent against them.
Brooklyn is coming off a 110-104 loss at Washington on Friday. Cam Thomas, the Nets’ leading scorer, came off the bench for just the third time this season and first since Nov. 30.
“At the end of the day, I want to start,” Thomas told the New York Post. “But for what the team needs, I gotta come off the bench where it’s sixth or seventh man, come in and bring energy. So just not getting down, just staying positive and keep my energy high.”
The Nets are one of the better rebounding teams in the NBA, averaging 46.8 per game to come into Sunday’s game third in the league. Oklahoma City is near the bottom, averaging 40.9.
A New Year’s Eve home game has become a tradition for the Thunder. Sunday’s game will be Oklahoma City’s 16th consecutive season with a home game on the date since the franchise moved from Seattle.
Sunday’s game is the first of two between the teams this season.
Oklahoma City swept their two meetings last season and has won three consecutive games against the Nets overall.
–Field Level Media