OKC’s Cason Wallace Plays Great Defense On Winning Stop

Getty Image / Patrick McDermott

People will seriously say that people in the NBA don’t play any defense, and completely forget about how much more skilled players are these days and how much more the floor is spaced.

But, no one should be able to say that after they watched the final possession of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s game 1 thriller, beating the New Orleans Pelicans, 94-92. Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace played incredible defense on New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, forcing a game-winning miss.

Take a look.

Here’s another angle from in the arena.

Yeah, that’s incredible defense by the rookie! Yes, CJ McCollum probably should’ve given the ball up at some point in that sequence. But, credit a guy in his first year for staying calm, not fouling, and making McCollum take a really tough shot (that he almost made anyway).

Those are the kind of contributions the Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten up and down the rotation all season long as they earned the top seed in the Western Conference. Wallace, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Kentucky, made a huge impact this year. for OKC. He averaged around 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for the Thunder this year while shooting the ball well enough for only being 20-years-old.

Game 1 between the Thunder and the Pelicans was a great game after a weekend of playoff basketball where close games were few and far between. The TNT broadcast team said that there were 40 combined ties and lead changes in the game, which is an absurd amount!

People will forget about how many lead changes there were, but they’re going to remember Cason Wallace’s defense for a long time.