How are the Thunder 8–2 without three starters?

November 9, 2026 · StatsPads

8–2Tied for the best record in the NBA

Three games into the season, Oklahoma City lost three starters. All three played in the Oct. 25 win over the Clippers:

LAC101FinalSun, Oct 25

OKC108

Wallace played only six minutes. None of the three has a box score since.

None has played since, and none is coming back soon:

Jalen WilliamsBroken left fibula and ankle ligament surgery. Re-evaluated before the end of the regular season.
Chet HolmgrenSmall tear in his right patellar tendon. Out at least 8–10 weeks.
Cason WallaceTorn labrum in his left shoulder, surgery. Re-evaluated before the end of the regular season.

Together they were playing 78.0 minutes and scoring 32.0 points a game. Since they went down, the Thunder are 5–2. Here is how.

1. No team has lost more, and few have coped

Count every game an opening-night starter has missed. Oklahoma City is at 21, the most in the league. Further right means more starter games missed, higher means a better record.

A starter game missed is one game without one of the team's five opening-night starters, for any reason.

Teams missing two starters usually struggle. Indiana and Orlando are both 1–5 in those games. New Orleans is 4–0, over four games. The Thunder have played the most of them, seven, and won five.

WinsLosses

NOP4–0
OKC5–2
TOR2–1
GSW1–1
PHI1–1
IND1–5
ORL1–5

Records in games played without two or more opening-night starters. Teams with at least two such games.

2. Shai took the bigger load and got better

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing fewer minutes than in the first three games, yet scoring more and shooting better.

True shooting counts threes and free throws. His assists went up as his minutes went down.

	First 3	Since Oct. 25
Points	27.7	30.9	+3.2
Rebounds	4.7	3.6	−1.1
Assists	4.0	5.3	+1.3
True shooting	53.1%	58.8%	+5.7
Minutes	35.7	31.7	−4.0

That has him 3rd in the league in scoring, behind Luka Dončić and Stephen Curry, who are both scoring on far better shooting.

Points a game this season, players with 5+ games. Doncic and Curry are both above 67% true shooting; Shai is at 57.1%.

3. Ajay Mitchell became the second option

Ajay Mitchell averaged 13.6 points last season. He was at 11.3 in the first three games. Since then he has started every game and nearly doubled it, without wasting shots.

His 61.3% true shooting since is better than Shai’s. The Thunder are +43 with him on the floor in those seven games.

	First 3	Since Oct. 25
Points	11.3	22.1	+10.8
Rebounds	3.7	3.7	–
Assists	3.3	3.3	–
True shooting	49.5%	61.3%	+11.8
Minutes	24.7	28.3	+3.6

4. Everyone else took a piece

About 78 minutes a game had to go somewhere. Nobody took all of it. In all, 8 players gained at least three minutes, including two rookies, Bennett Stirtz and Aday Mara.

Each row is the first three games → the seven since. Players up 3+ minutes a game, with 15+ a game in at least four of the seven. Hartenstein (+2.7 minutes) just misses the cut, though his rebounds went from 7.0 to 11.4.

The points came back too, and then some. The Thunder are scoring 114.6 a game since the injuries, up from 106.7.

Points the three injured starters were scoring32.0 pts a gameJ. WilliamsHolmgrenWallaceJalen Williams 13.7Chet Holmgren 12.0Cason Wallace 6.3
Points added by players who stepped up49.0 pts a gameMitchellStirtzMaraK. WilliamsAjay Mitchell +10.8Bennett Stirtz +9.9Aday Mara +6.3Kenrich Williams +5.4Jared McCain +4.4Micah Peavy +4.3Shai Gilgeous-Alexander +3.2Josh Dix +2.7Brooks Barnhizer +2.0

Players up 2+ points a game. Mitchell and Stirtz alone add 20.7, more than Jalen Williams and Wallace were scoring together (20.0).

5. The defense bent but held

Across the season, Oklahoma City is a middling offense with one of the best defenses in the league. Further right means more points scored, higher means fewer allowed.

Detroit allows the fewest points a game (101.8), Chicago the most (129.6).

102.12nd in the NBApoints allowed per 100 possessionsBestWorst

40.8%1st in the NBAopponents’ shooting from the fieldBestWorst

13.21st in the NBAturnovers a game, the fewest in the leagueBestWorst

The defense did slip. With the three starters, Oklahoma City allowed 93.7 points per 100 possessions, better than any team has managed over the whole season. Without them it is 105.8, about 8th best in the league. The offense went the other way.

With the three, first 3 gamesWithout them, last 7

Defensepoints allowed per 100 possessions93.71st105.88thBestWorst
Offensepoints scored per 100 possessions103.828th112.711thBestWorst

Where each stretch would rank among the 30 teams’ season numbers. Three games is a small sample: the 93.7 came against San Antonio, Denver and the Clippers.

A different team, not the same one with backups: a little worse on defense, a lot better on offense, and still careful with the ball.

6. A rough week, then four straight wins

They beat Phoenix at home the night after the injuries, then lost by 20-plus on the road in Dallas and Houston. They have won every game since, two of them by 30 or more.

Both losses came against winning teams, Dallas (5–4) and Houston (7–3), both on the road.

The players doing it

Is it real?

Mostly, with a smaller sample than it looks. The +7.0 margin since the injuries leans on two blowouts, +31 against Memphis and +39 against Washington. The middle game of the seven was an 8-point win.

Real: Shai. A former MVP scoring more on better shooting is not a fluke.
Real: the ball security. Fewest turnovers in the league, and fewer since the injuries (12.7 a game) than before (14.3).
Not the schedule: their opponents have won 59% of their other games, the 5th toughest schedule so far.
Watch: Mitchell at 61.3% true shooting. That is star efficiency, and seven games is a short run.
Watch: the defense. It went from best in the league to about 8th. Holmgren’s rim protection is the hardest thing to replace, and he is out until at least January.

In one line: Oklahoma City didn’t replace three starters with one star. Shai got better, Mitchell grew into a second option, 7 others split the minutes, and they still don’t give the ball away.

See where they stand now on the standings, check who else is out on the injury report, or put them next to anyone on the compare page.

Numbers cover every 2026–27 regular-season game through November 7, from ESPN box scores. Injury details are from ESPN’s injury report. A starter game missed is a game in which one of a team’s five opening-night starters didn’t play, for any reason. Points per 100 possessions use field-goal attempts − offensive rebounds + turnovers + 0.44 × free-throw attempts. True shooting is points ÷ (2 × (field-goal attempts + 0.44 × free-throw attempts)).