ATLANTA – Success is not final, each new NBA season shows us that. Failure is not fatal, as proved by the resiliency of the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. It’s the courage to continue that counts.
An NBA game, or any sporting event for that matter, is in truth a final exam.
Athletes are judged and pass or fail as a result of their preparation and consistency. But preparation is the key to success.
And exams are not the end of the world, but the beginnings of a new one … as long as you learn something new each time.
Consistency creates credibility, which is why the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder are 3-0, despite two consecutive double overtime wins over credible competition and a clean, fluid victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta last night.
Exams are not about who’s the best, but about who can handle pressure the best.
In each of their first three games, it could be said that the Thunder got off to slow starts, or at the very least, kept pace and matched the energies of their opponent. Against the Houston Rockets, the Thunder allowed themselves to be lulled into three-point deficits in the first two quarters and simply returned the favor and erased the deficit by outscoring the Rockets in the second half and edging them by a single point – ironically thanks to two Shai Gilgeous-Alexander free throws – in the second overtime to win by one on Opening Night.
Against their NBA Finals opponent, the Pacers on Thursday night, OKC started slow again, but used a second quarter 10 point surge to keep pace before taking a seven point edge into halftime, only to fritter it away in the second half. What saved them that night was a 17-11 second overtime.
Against the Hawks last night, the Thunder led by five at the half, but their defense and the resulting points off turnovers gave the Thunder a 19-point advantage they never looked back from, including the ‘garbage time’ of the last 2:01.
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
Jalen Williams is still recovering from wrist surgery, so the starting nod has gone to Aaron Wiggins, and the energy off the bench that Wiggins often brought last season has fallen to Ajay Mitchell.
Wiggins, through three games, is averaging 14 points and five rebounds, while shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from the arc, and is 100 percent from the line so far. This is up from 12 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 2024-25 where Wiggins played in 76 games, starting 26. He is the team leader from the arc, where OKC has admittedly struggled, with that 44.4 percent mark.
Mitchell’s contributions have certainly been noticed as he’s come off the bench all three games to post 18.7 points, four rebounds, and 4.3 assists a night, and that immeasurable hustle factor that has kept the team in play while starters get their rest. Mitchell’s points per game has tripled his numbers from last season as minutes have gone from 16.6 to 27 per game thus far, positioning him as the team’s third leading scorer through three, and third in three point accuracy at 41.7 percent.
Be consistent. Little acts create great accomplishments.
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the team with a 40 points per game average, and shooting 52.7 percent, unselfishly dishing out five dimes a night, and has 1.3 blocks while the bigger players on the team aren’t even in the mix.
Chet Holmgren is averaging 24.7 points and 10 rebounds, and is shooting a team high 56.1 percent and 42.1 from three, second only to Wiggins. Holmgren has 1.7 steals, half the average of the whirling dervish Cason Wallace.
And, remind yourself, this is without Jalen Williams.While there is no structured timeline for Williams’ return, he has been playing pick-up games without a brace on his wrist.
Business is business, family is family, friends are friends – but we still have a game to play.
It’s all relative, at least last night was, was cousin played cousin, brother against brother, and even former teammates squared off in the Thunder win.
The Cousins
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 30 points, five rebounds, five assists |
| Nickeil Alexander-Walker | 17 points, three rebounds, two assists |
The Brothers
| Cason Wallace | Three points, three rebounds, three assists |
| Keaton Wallace | Five points, one rebound, one assist |
Former Teammates
| Chet Holmgren | 31 points, 11 rebounds, one assist |
| Vit Krejci (OKC 2021-22) | 13 points, two rebounds, one assist |
What have we learned, Dorothy?*
It wasn’t that the Hawks were horrible, but it sure seems like Trae Young (15 points, four rebounds, 10 assists last night) is becoming more and more optional than focal. The team seems invested more in their young bigs (Mouhamed Gueye, Onyeka Okongwu) and the promise of Asa Newell (12 points, 10 rebounds last night in his State Farm Arena debut) than keeping Young as their focal point.
The only things that seemed to get the Hawks sold out crowd going last night was Rock Paper Scissors, Fan Feud, and riding a suitcase around safety cones. They don’t seem to get up for their team, instead got louder for Wale and Odeal. Maybe get a funeral home on the arena sponsorship instead of State Farm if that’s going to continue to be the case.
If Young no longer excites the fan base, per my early season idea, perhaps the Thunder should have stuffed Young in a duffel bag and left Luguentz Dort and Isaiah Hartenstein in the ATL and both sides would have benefited.
The season is still young … and we know changes are certainly going to be afoot.
*Volunteers (1985)
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Tracy ‘T-Money’ Graven is the Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com owner of TMoneyMedia.com and also has his posts on SubStack at allballs.substack.com
He has written the NBA, appeared as a guest on NBA Radio, and the last 25+ years for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show, NBARadioShow.com, and also tackles the NFL and NCAA. He’s spent 25+ years in locker rooms in Orlando, Boise (CBA, G League), San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta.
He has raised five kids, and now currently resides in the heart of SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee – home of the 2024 Men’s Baseball World Series Champion Tennessee Volunteers.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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