How Rest Days Impact the OKC Thunder's Performance

The Thunder was good last season regardless of how many days were between games.

Apr 2, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault against the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The 2024-25 Thunder regular season kicks off this Thursday in Denver, starting a six-month roller coaster ride. They will play 82 games from Oct. 24, 2024, to Apr. 13, 2025, averaging a game every 2.09 days.

This average implies and confirms an even distribution. Oklahoma City has 50 games this season after one day of rest, almost identical to last year's 52 such games. The 2023-24 team won 38 of those 52, their highest winning percentage among all rest situations.

After 14 games with no days of rest on last season's schedule, the Thunder will play 16 back-to-back games this year — the first is this Friday, when they host the Hawks right after playing a night contest in Chicago. A 57.1% back-to-back winning percentage is noticeably lower than their overall 69.5% winning percentage, but the Thunder still played at a 47-win pace without any rest.

Oklahoma City this season has 10 scheduled games with two days of rest and four scheduled games with at least three rest days, about the same number in each category as last year. The latter number is misleading because each team has 80 known game dates — the other two will be confirmed for mid-December depending on NBA Cup group stage play. The 2023-24 Thunder excelled with exactly two rest days and won three of their five games with more.

Days of Rest	2023-24 Thunder Record	Winning Percentage
0	8-6	57.1%
1	38-14	73.1%
2	8-3	72.7%
3+	3-2	60.0%

The Thunder were a winning team in all rest situations largely because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was consistently productive. In his 12 back-to-back games, he scored 30.2 points per game on a 67.0% true shooting percentage while averaging a +22.0 plus-minus.

Gilgeous-Alexander's lowest numbers throughout the four categories were 29.1 points per game (one rest day), 4.8 rebounds per game (three or more rest days), 5.9 assists per game (one rest day), a 52.1% field goal percentage (one rest day), an 18.8% 3-point percentage (two rest days) and an 82.8 free-throw percentage (three or more rest days). Those averages would still place him among the league's best players.

Jalen Williams averaged his most points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game on back-to-backs, a trend that remained from his rookie season. He paired those counting statistics with a 58.4% field goal percentage and a 47.8% 3-point percentage on no days of rest.

Chet Holmgren recorded at least a 61.0% true shooting percentage in all rest situations, although he attempted just 10 field goals per game on back-to-backs. His usage rate was between 21.7% (no rest days) and 22.3% (three or more rest days), and his average plus-minus hovered between +8.1 (three categories) and +8.5 (one rest day), solidifying his consistent secondary impact.

Newcomers Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein recorded their fewest points per game and lowest average plus-minus on no days of rest.

Oklahoma City's schedule is slightly more unfavorable this season than last due to more back-to-backs, but they are well-equipped to maintain winning ways.

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