Three Takeaways From the OKC Thunder’s Loss in Detroit

The first look at the Oklahoma City Thunder's new starting five showed glimpses of being one of the NBA's strongest.

The Oklahoma City Thunder matched up against the Detroit Pistons yesterday in not Oklahoma City, and not Detroit, but Montreal, Canada – the hometown of guard Luguentz Dort. 

In what was likely a surreal experience for Dort, he was able to play for the first time in Montreal as an NBA player. He gave his hometown crowd a show, scoring 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 5-for-9 from 3-point range. 

However, a late 4th quarter scoring surge from the Detroit Pistons – led by James Wiseman's perfect 20 points on the night – resulted in a three-point loss for Oklahoma City. 

Let's dive into three lessons that can be learned from yesterday's game.

Thunder guard Luguentz Dort lays it up under the basket through Detroit's Isaiah Stewart  / © Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is Still Good

After missing Oklahoma City's first preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs, Gilgeous-Alexander made his preseason debut against the Pistons in his home country. 

Although the guard took a limited four shot attempts, he still finished with a 12 point, three assists, three steals and one block performance in 22 minutes. 

Any rust that Gilgeous-Alexander may have had – even though he played in the 2023 NBA World Cup – could not be seen from the viewer's eye. The 3-point shot, drive to the basket and free-throw shooting looked as fluid as ever, while opting to get his teammates more involved. 

There was not a whole lot to see between Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren yet, but it will certainly come soon enough. While it's not the type of performance that will be seen out of the superstar guard in the regular season, it was still exciting to see Gilgeous-Alexander in action. 

Luguentz Dort Looks Confident

The strongest showing for the Thunder yesterday was undoubtedly Luguentz Dort. His 24 points led the team in scoring, while playing great defense as usual. 

Dort has always been touted as one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders since his emergence in the 2020 "bubble season", but his lack of a true 3-point shot has hurt his game at times. Dort has demonstrated massive improvement on his jumper in preseason so far however, shooting a combined 7-for-13 in two games. 

If Dort can become a true 3&D player for Oklahoma City, it would be an incredible development. The Thunder have notably struggled from behind the arc in recent seasons, so having a high percentage shooter at the small forward position would open up the floor more for the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey. 

His lockdown defense is always going to be expected, but the added layer of a 3-point shoot could expand Dort's game in a significant way.

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams Make For a Perfect Frontcourt

Following his 21-point NBA debut, Holmgren put together another quality performance, scoring 16 points and grabbing four rebounds. 

Williams struggled to get his shot to fall against the Spurs, but scored 17 points on 6-11 shooting against the Pistons. 

The frontcourt duo has been special to watch in just two preseason games, perfectly matching each other's strengths and weaknesses. They are both dynamic scorers that have the ability to score 20 points on any given night, but also make for a dangerous defensive pairing. 

Holmgren tallied three blocks and one steal on the night, while Williams tallied three steals. Holmgren is clearly the more dominant interior presence and Williams is the more dominant perimeter defender, but both are able to help each other out on their opposite strong suit and make opposing offenses struggle. 

Barring injury, there will be no change to this starting frontcourt all season long. 

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The loss for Oklahoma City ultimately didn't matter at the end of the day. The starting five looked fantastic in its short time together, and bench players such as Ousmane Dieng contributed strong performances. A win would have been nice, but in a preseason where starters tend to just play over 20 minutes, the final result doesn't tell the full story. 

The Thunder will move on to face the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 4:00 p.m. CT in Charlotte, NC. Oklahoma City will be matched against one of the best point guards in the NBA in LaMelo Ball, as well as the incoming rookie Brandon Miller. 

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