INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Down a couple stars, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault figured it was a good night to look at the trio of Alex Caruso, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace. They started together alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein. They closed the game together, too.
It was OKC’s most efficient lineup in a 103-101 win Sunday night against the Clippers.
In 17 minutes and three seconds, those five were a plus-10, with a net rating of 23.8 (108.6 offensive rating, 84.8 defensive rating).
In general, lineups featuring just two of the three have been productive. One of them starts a crowd, two of them are a party, yadda yadda. Their sample together isn’t large, nor does it hold as positive a net as what it looks like when only two of them have shared the lineup.
Wallace is growing as a creator, and three players of the same supplementary ilk mostly puts offensive pressure on the initiator (SGA or Williams) and the big (Holmgren or Hartenstein). Their shared presence is obvious: give an opposing team hell on defense.
If Sunday is any indicator, the three of them make a natural disaster. Oklahoma City’s own Bermuda Triangle.
James Harden was held to 17 points on 4-of-14 shooting with six turnovers. Norman Powell had nine points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Caruso might’ve been the man in front, but it was Dort and Wallace who met with him on the pair of vital stops on Leonard late.
With respect to all three, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked Sunday night what it’s like to be the team’s “forgotten defender.”
“I don’t get the same credit as them defensively, probably for good reason, though,” SGA said. “I’m not close to any of those three guys you named. They’re insanely impressive.
“If we can stop you from scoring a certain amount, we can figure out the rest,” he continued. “And usually when we have bad nights and end up on the losing side of the column, it’s because our defense wasn’t there and we know that.”
Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @joelxlorenzi. Support Joel’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.