The Oklahoma City Thunder are marching through the NBA again at the start of the season and are the only undefeated team after the bankruptcy of the San Antonio Spurs – because Victor Wembanyama is not always an “alien”.
At the beginning of the season, the defending champions made things exciting. In the first two games, the Oklahoma City Thunder achieved a first in the North American professional basketball league, as no team had ever won its first two games after two overtimes each – “OKC” did that against the Houston Rockets and when the past finalists met again at the Indiana Pacers. Since then, the master has made things clear again.
Hartenstein almost had a “triple double” against New Orleans
After seven games, the team around center Isaiah Hartenstein is undefeated, and on Monday night they had their clearest success so far this season with a score of 137:106. Hartenstein was one of the outstanding players, he had 14 points (hit 6 of 7 shots), 14 rebounds and eight assists. The top scorer was once again Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 30 points, but the Thunder were repeatedly unstoppable, especially as a collective.
However, the Canadian MVP plays a very big role. Gilgeous-Alexander’s offensive quality is so powerful that opponents cannot afford to cover him with just one player. This opens up freedom for his colleagues, who are all perfectly coordinated with one another. “OKC” was the big favorite before the start of the season because the title team stayed together – and the team confirms this impression.
“Alien” Wembanyama with a human night
And since last night, the Thunder are also the only team that has won all of their games so far, because alongside the Chicago Bulls (116:128 at the New York Knicks), the San Antonio Spurs also suffered their first defeat at 118:130 at the Phoenix Suns. After incredible performances at the start of the season, Victor Wembanyama emphasized that he is not an “alien” (that’s his nickname), but a human being who sometimes has weaker days.
“Wemby” went into the Spurs’ sixth game of the season with averages of 30.2 points, 14.6 rebounds, 4.6 blocks and only 1.8 turnovers per game – in Phoenix nothing worked for the Frenchman. Wembanyama had nine points, nine rebounds, four blocks and lost the ball six times. His shooting rate was 28.6 percent.