OKC Thunder: Darius Bazley playing better without SGA in lineup

OKC Thunder forward Darius Bazley (7) dunks the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The OKC Thunder have been one of the worst teams during this second-half stretch of the 2020-21 season, going 22-6 since returning from the All-Star break.

Clearly more invested in the tank than they were during the team’s first half, the Thunder have now shied away from legitimate play-in tournament contention and, instead, are vying for a bottom-five finish in the entire league.

Interestingly enough, however, despite the losing, there have been quite a few bright spots that have come out of this mediocre stretch. For us at TI, quite possibly the most important takeaway from…