Thunder's Return to Dominance + a Conversation with Becky Hammon | The Dunker Spot

Nekias Duncan (0:00)

Hi, hello, we have a jam-packed episode of The Dunker Spot coming your way. First, we talk about the currently streaking Oklahoma City Thunder coming off of a pair of big wins against Western Conference Titans. We talk about what we've liked from their recent play. We then check in on the most improved race. We talk about our philosophies around the award and some names that we're thinking about early with a deeper dive coming later. We preview this upcoming Unrivaled Basketball Slate, talk about the matchups and things that we're excited about. And then we are joined by the Hall of Famer Championship Head Coach, Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces, where we have a deep versatile conversation about all things hoops and a little bit of things about Becky. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Hi, hello, and welcome to another episode of The Dunker Spot. We are part of the Yahoo Sports Network. I am your host, Nekias Duncan. And joining me as always is my co-host, the always excellent Steve Jones Jr. Steve, happy Friday, how are you?

Steve Jones Jr. (1:05)

Feeling good, feeling great. Happy to be here, excited to be here. Thank you, Dunkers, for embracing your bounce. I'm ready to talk some hoop.

Nekias Duncan (1:12)

Let's talk some hoop then, Steve. It's been a fun week of basketball. Honestly, we've had a lot of marquee matchups. I wanted to take this Friday, as we like to get deep divey on Fridays. I wanted to check in with the Oklahoma City Thunder. We did our tier list earlier in the week. We both still had them in the S tier, despite this weird like 12, 15 game stretch that they were on. We're not too far removed from me personally yelling at them about defending double drag poorly as they got blown out by the Charlotte Hornets. But since that Hornets lost, they've won five straight. That is the longest act of winning streak in the league right now. It's three straight wins against playoff slash play-in teams. If you're looking at Miami, San Antonio and Houston. And with the last two in particular, these are two Western Conference teams in the Spurs and the Rockets from the same division at that matter, that are trying to earn their way into true contention status. And I have been impressed by what OKC has been able to do as of late, particularly with those two opponents. They weren't just wins, Steve. These were a pair of double digit beatdowns, particularly in the second half of these games. It felt more like the Thunder that we got accustomed to earlier in the year. So before, I have lots of thoughts about what these last couple of games have been. But before we get there, you had them in the S tier, so I would assume no. But like, how concerned did you actually get during that weird stretch for OKC?

Steve Jones Jr. (2:32)

The thing is, I didn't. And so it was interesting because you've kind of been sprinkling a little bit of concern over the Thunder like parsley. And I was just like, I think they're fine. Like they're the top team in the league. They're 35 and 7, 20 and 2 at home, 15 and 4 on the road. There's no other team in the league with less than five road losses. You go to nba.com, their fifth in offensive rating, first in defensive rating. So when it was like, hey, let's talk Thunder, I'm like, what are we worried about? They're going to be just fine. And I think it kind of ties back into like the ethos of this team and how Mark Doudnault has built them to kind of adapt and move on and move forward throughout the year. And then I'll tell you who's been less concerned than me, Chet Holmgren, because every time he says, it's like, hey, can you guys relax? Like I think the quote from him post game, they used asked about bouncing back with this winning streak. And Chet said, when you lose, everyone acts like the ceiling is caving in and the sky is falling or sell the team. I don't think anybody is saying that, but that's what it feels like. But the most important part was the end. You can't lose sight of who you are, what you do and how to do those things. And I feel like that's been the key for Oklahoma City during this run. Like Phoenix got them, Charlotte really got them, Utah almost got them, Memphis almost got them, and then we're back to business. And I think it just comes down to even the best teams, even the most known quantities, it comes down to navigating circumstances, the strength of the regular season, figuring out how to get back to what you're doing. I think that's what they're showcased during this stretch.