The Thunder went into Thursday night’s preseason finale in Houston looking for something cleaner than what they got. Instead, Oklahoma City walked off with a 116-89 loss, a rough first-quarter hole, and a three-point showing that made the whole night harder to swallow.
Houston came out flying and put the game on its heels immediately, racing to a 33-15 lead after the opening quarter. OKC tried to answer in the second, but the Rockets kept control from there and pulled away in the second half.
Jalen Williams gave the Thunder one of their few steady offensive notes with 18 points on 50% shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 17 points. After that, the box score gets a lot less encouraging for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder were beaten badly in the turnover game, coughing it up 17 times while Houston had eight. They also got worked on the glass, allowing the Rockets to collect 14 offensive rebounds and stack up second-chance opportunities. Those issues were damaging on their own, and they only got worse once the shots from deep stopped falling.
Oklahoma City took 36 three-pointers and made just five of them, a brutal 14% clip. That cold stretch spread across the roster. Jared McCain missed all eight of his tries from beyond the arc, while Bennett Stirtz, who has been hot this preseason, managed just one make in five attempts.
The Thunder weren’t a bad three-point team last season, finishing at 36.5% from deep. But there has been some concern about how consistent that shot will be this year without Isaiah Joe or Lu Dort.
Still, this was one preseason game, not a verdict. Oklahoma City has young players who can keep developing from the perimeter, and McCain and Stirtz are both seen as capable of carrying a large share of that burden.
For the Thunder, Thursday night was the kind of performance to quickly move past. The season starts next week.
In Other News...
Thunder Title Hopes Now Ride On One Uncomfortable Reality
The Thunder remain the leagues early favorite for the 2026-27 title, but the price of staying on top has already become part of the conversation in Oklahoma City. Cost-saving trades sent Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins elsewhere, stripping away three useful pieces from a roster that had been built to win with balance, versatility and depth.
Sam Presti has already acknowledged how hard those departures are to absorb, and the bigger concern is the thinner margin for error that now comes with every injury, every cold stretch and every lineup decision. The core trio still gives Oklahoma City a real championship path, but with depth reduced and plenty of strong competition around the league, the Thunders hopes may hinge on how well the remaining supporting cast can hold up when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Defense Just Sent A Clear Message About This Season
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Holmgrens placement comes after a season that already put him among the leagues elite defenders, following a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting and All-NBA Defensive First Team honors. With Caruso and Wallace also recognized near the top of the list, Oklahoma City is carrying into the new year the kind of defensive depth that can shape a contender, and the only real question is how far that collective edge can take them once the games start counting again. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Williams Turned One Thunder Playoff Memory Into A Lakers Dig
Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell revisited Oklahoma Citys 2026 playoff run on the Young Man and the Three podcast, and the conversation naturally drifted to one of the Thunders most memorable postseason stretches. Mitchell had a strong showing against the Lakers before his injury later in the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs, while Williams was watching that first-round series from the sidelines because of a hamstring injury. Even away from the floor, Williams said he got a kick out of the way fans reacted online as the Thunder worked through that matchup.
The playoff run is still fresh enough to color how Oklahoma City talks about what comes next, especially with the 2026-27 season set to open against the Spurs in a rematch that already carries some edge. For Williams, the Lakers series remains one of those moments where the noise around the game, and the way it played out for the Thunder, became part of the memory. The podcast appearance offered a reminder that even an injury absence can still turn into a front-row seat for the kind of trash talk and fan chatter that follows a team all spring. [Read more 🡒]