Thunder vs Pacers Recap: NBA Jan. 18th/23

The NBA had a pretty busy schedule on Wednesday night. In one game the OKC Thunder, who have been playing well for a few weeks, hosted the Indiana Pacers.

The Thunder won the game in a contest that was not competitive at all as time expired. They put up a large double-digit margin of victory in the game, winning by 20 points. The final score was Indiana 106, and OKC 126 as Oklahoma City continued their run of good form.

Pacers @ Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23

With the loss, the Pacers are now 23-23 overall on the season. This is a sinking team in the standings, a team that has now lost five straight games as per the chart below.

The run of poor form is basically correlational with an injury to their star player, Tyrese Haliburton. He has missed the last four games and, apparently, as he goes so goes any semblance of strong basketball out of the Pacers. Indiana, in the loss to OKC, did not have anyone score even just 20 points in the game.

Indiana Pacers: Recent Form Alert

• Indiana Pacers were 23-18 (January 10th, 2023)
• Following Wednesday’s game, they are 23-23

Meanwhile, the Thunder improved to 22-23 with the 20-point victory. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a modest 23 points in the game. Due to the blowout victory, OKC curtailed the minutes of their starters a little. SGA had 23 points in just 30 minutes of action.

Win the win, the Thunder are now positioned 9th in the Western Conference standings. They remain an intriguing team for playoff qualification. Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey are an effective tandem against the middle teams and weak teams in the NBA. They make the Thunder relevant when it comes to the peripheral playoff seeds.

Coming out of Thursday, OKC is 11-5 in their last sixteen games. If they can continue that kind of pace, then they will separate themselves from the Western Conference’s fluff.

Further reading: NBA Power Rankings