Stiles Points: OKC Thunder's 'Program Win' Has Sustainability

The Thunder's 52nd win of the season came in a unique way. While Oklahoma City has been dominant this season, winning a game without six of its top rotational players is impressive. Despite missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City pulled off a 107-89 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Sure, this marks the 16th straight win over its divisional foe, but tonight was the most improbable. It was standout performances by Jaylin Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Alex Caruso and Ousmane Dieng that propelled the Thunder to a win.

"A great program win for us. That's one that we can be really proud of as a complete program," Head coach Mark Daigneault said "[It's] having the right guys. Those guys can all play, obviously. But also having a system in place where they can keep themselves confident and sharp."

The Thunder played a roster that had two first-round picks and the rest of its nine-man rotation was made up of undrafted or second-round players. The head ball coach is right, this is a massive feather in the cap of the developmental program in Oklahoma City.

While many will attempt to cast this aside as a one-off wonder by role players that banded together for an upset win over a play-in hopeful - there were sustainable elements from this game that the Oklahoma City Thunder can lean on in the playoffs.

No, this scribe is not banking on a Williams triple-double in the playoffs (Though the Thunder have three cracks at that becoming true any given game) but how the Arkansas big man functioned in Oklahoma City's lineup is something the Thunder will need to replicate in the postseason.

In a game where you look around and at best find one (1) on-ball creator or offense initiator, Williams was able to help the Thunder catch an offensive groove as a high-post playmaker. The Arkansas product dished out 11 assists, darting passes around the perimeter and dumping off dimes to play-finishers to still generate high-quality looks for Oklahoma City despite lacking an offensive engine.

While it might not be Williams himself taking part in this process, Hartenstein holds these same traits. As many wonder and worry what Oklahoma City's offense will look like in the non-Gilgeous-Alexander minutes come playoff time, this high-post playmaking can help Jalen Williams shoulder the load as a No. 2 option. Another repeatable wrinkle to find offense when games get tight in the postseason.

So Williams' 10 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds deserve to be celebrated and not shoved aside as a fun foot note.

In this win, Aaron Wiggins dropped 30 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor. The Maryland product dazzled as a rim finisher with reverse layups galore and the ability to blow past defenders to create an advantage for OKC.

This has been part of a great scoring stretch for the No. 55 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. However, it is more than just a mid-season surge. With consistent playing time, the Thunder swingman has been able to turn flashes into an elongated run of offense.

Even in a game with more on-ball chances, Wiggins still was able to show the ways these points translate to the postseason.

With the way the swingman can attack off the catch after defenses commit to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he can really exploit a team overloading and doubling the Thunder's superstar. Wiggins is a three-level scorer who also provides play-finishing off the ball. He will wind up the X-factor in helping smooth out the OKC's offense.

While these are two loud examples of how this overwised overlooked March game translates to the postseason, even the nitty gritty displays the long term developmental process paying off for the Thunder.

Dieng's 16 points came via decisive decision-making that at times eluded him throughout his professional career but post All-Star break has really shined. Minutes will be tough to come by for the 21-year-old, but his improved ability to be impactful in short bursts has truly translated after years of work.

Ultimately, Oklahoma City moves to 52-11 in a game that will be forgotten about after the hoopla of Sunday's MVP bout between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - but the finger prints of playoff success linger behind on this win over Portland.

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