Both teams started out rough offensively. With a lid on each basket, the first stoppage of the game made everyone look around, thinking they stepped out of a time machine to watch basketball played with peach baskets.

Some of this can be credited to the defenses of each side, some can be credited to off nights and slow starts. Though, in the midst of the laboring scoring efforts, the Oklahoma City Thunder clearly separated themselves from the New York Knicks and defined the tiers in the NBA.

Isaiah Joe checked into the game in the midst of the first quarter slop and in five minutes blitzed in a pair of triples to peel the lid off the bucket. Aside from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s spectacular game – producing 13 points in that sluggish opening frame – it was Joe off the bench that turned the tide.

As the Thunder and Knicks labored on offense, New York had no answers and Oklahoma City had the benefit of depth.

Joe finished with a career-best eight 3-pointers made en route to 31 points. OKC earned 50 points from its bench unit, with New York only netting just 24 off the pine.

This led the Thunder to cruise to a 126-101 win, marking back-to-back double-digit wins over the Knicks, sweeping the season series.

The wins came the same way. A role player stepped up, with Wiggins snatching victory from the jaws of defeat last Friday in Oklahoma City and Joe lighting up the scoreboard in MSG this Friday.

Basketball is a war of attrition in the midst of an 82-game season everyone must navigate for the right to play an additional three months to crown a champion. The Thunder have the depth needed and have clearly placed themselves in a different tier than the Knicks and most NBA teams.

The NBA is reaching a parody era, gone are the days of super teams and a welcomed sight sees multiple teams that can realistically win a championship. However, amidst that change, still comes a group of teams that do not need any luck, teams that you do not have to squint to see the vision of them hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

In this tier, only three teams sit. All with a similar formula. A top ten offense and defense, a bonafide top end talent, depth to survive, a quality coach and passing the eye test and statistical one with and without qualifiers. There should be no arguing over this trio.

While the three teams in tier one have a clear-cut title case, a handful of teams stil have a path to the NBA Finals, giving themselves a chance to win a championship. The difference? They do not check all the boxes. Some still get a passing grade for multiple requirements but others only fill one box.

This next tier is a group of teams that could push a first round series to six or seven games, perhaps even pull off one upset series win but the postseason will end in short order, ultimately.

These teams might make the play-in or even the playoffs, but they have no true chance at even a fluke run, and have a seldom chance at even a gentlemen’s sweep.

This group of teams are full of squads that have spent more time scouting Cooper Flagg than other NBA teams this season.

Song of the Day: Hello Trouble by Buck Owens

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