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OKC Thunder BLOWN OUT by Charlotte Hornets | How Much Concern Is There?



OKC Thunder BLOWN OUT by Charlotte Hornets | How Much Concern Is There?

Oklahoma City Thunder suffer a shocking blowout loss at home to the Charlotte Hornets, raising alarms about the team’s mentality and defensive intensity. Rylan Stiles breaks down the concerning 124-97 defeat, examining a night where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak continued but the team’s identity faltered. With critical absences like Isaiah Hartenstein and Jalen Williams, the Thunder’s lack of effort, poor shooting, and questionable execution stood out against a struggling Hornets squad.

Key topics include the impact of Aaron Wiggins replacing Cason Wallace in the starting lineup, the team’s recent trend of uninspired play since December, and Alex Caruso’s candid comments on locker room mentality. Stiles addresses criticism of Coach Mark Daigneault and questions whether Oklahoma City can recapture its defensive edge and contender status before playoff time. Can the Thunder rediscover their championship formula, or are deeper issues threatening their title hopes?

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32 Comments

  3. @abbyfarris5578

    Did dub coming back really screw up the teams chemistry this much… I mean they've been pretty bad since he came back

  8. @jacktan431

    We need size. If we letting teams out rebound us 20+ every game, we are going to lose a lot of the games. This is NBA. Most teams only have slight edge or zero point percentage over the other teams.

  10. @THEEKANYEW3ST

    Second night of a back to back, guys were deflated from being cheating by the refs against the suns. I don't expect too many games like this, let's go thunder! Remember the goal!

  12. @Thunder-Rolls

    Rylan, I want a coach Mark quarter zip! When will they go on sale! Ha ha. I think Chuck Cooperstein from the Maverick said it best when they asked him if the thunder could win another championship and he said they could if they wanted it. It’s obvious they don’t want it!

  13. @Thunder-Rolls

    There is no part of this loss that was Coach Mark’s! These players are constantly not showing up night after night and it’s very sad and embarrassing. Making no excuses tonight for the officiating or anything like that, the thunder just plainly got pumped in their own home. They can’t rebound to save their life, they look like a high school team, and they have no motivation to win. It’s just a very sad site and I am very disappointed. If they keep playing like this, they won’t even make the playoffs.

  14. @victorblair1856

    This was easy to see! NBA scheduling is a JOKE! When teams play a back to back make sure the team u are playing has a back to back too!!!!!

  15. @indiekidd150

    I like how every slight excuse that could be given to the thunder … the counter to that was … “but it’s the charlotte hornets” 😂😭😂 Truth is truth ….

  17. @Im_Vengeanc3

    This Hornets team is different after new ownership group Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. No More MJ 😦

  18. @ScottRhodes-hu5jo

    Can’t shoot. Can’t rebound.

    Didn’t matter when we were so good defensively but suddenly we can’t guard the perimeter.

    Opponents making shots turns us into a half court offense team – which we are no good at.

    It’s the perfect storm.

    It starts with defense and turning teams over – that’s the start point,

    A shooter – who is a consistent threat – we have been screaming for, for two years is badly needed.

    As is toughness and rebounding – Bobby Portis is who they need to target.

    Dub has been terrible.
    Dort has been worse.

  20. @raphichou8132

    I would love okc to have less guards type and more physical rebond type players. Like give us Aaron Gordon instead of JDUB it solves so much problems

  21. @allanhee

    Rylan, I disagree. They've been slipping since the end of November when JDub came back. I'm not saying that it's JDub's fault, but they haven't looked consistently great for a while.

  22. @Mericaball1776

    Hornets aren’t THAT bad when they’re not decimated by injuries though, they just seem bad because they often are decimated by players hurt.

  25. @alexnovak201

    Just spewing i was so close to putting my multi on Charlotte just as a hail mary, but then was like nah no way okc loses to them, if id stuck with that woulda cleaned house

  26. @RK.Anthony_comp

    Tough loss… great show. I know those aren't fun.

    Well, we'll see. At the end of the day, this bitch-slap from Charlotte will either wake these kids up or we won't have a repeat champion.

  27. @pokuthegoat4134

    These guys need a break the short off season and now we’ve had so many games recently it seemed like it’s every night. We gotta hold Shai out for like a month or something cuz even if he doesn’t say it he just looks exhausted playing out there. We’re 30-7 we don’t need Shai to play 75-80 games a year. And I feel like it would be super beneficial for JDub getting “comfortable” again if he was forced to be the primary guy on ball. Shai is too good where it makes other guys try less cuz he can always pick up the slack but the season is so long and so are playoffs

  28. @abdouwho

    Not gonna overreact still at 30 wins before 10 losses which is insane, but I've said for years we need more real 2 way big men. Someone who can consistently get something like 10 pts and 8 boards or even a stretch big with a sturdy frame that can shoot and grab boards (avg something like 35 to 40 from 3 pt and get about 6 to 8 boards a night) . For years its been our one missing spot in development/scouting. I don't know what the hell Rudy Gobert did for his development but they gotta get Chet on the same diet.

  29. @stevenswayze

    It’s tough to be intense all the time in a league where every team is giving you their best shot. I was wondering if there would be a “they are human after all” stretch. It will be fine. Unless the refs are calling more fouls on Wallace, Caruso and Dort now and less fouls on people guarding SGA, then we are in trouble.

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