THE GRAHAM JAM

It's been a tough couple of weeks for Darius Bazley.

First, the third-year forward played his way out of a starting job. Bazley had been the notable weak link in Oklahoma City's starting five this season, but remained in the lineup due to his experience -- and a lack of exciting alternatives. But finally, on Dec. 18, Bazley came off the bench for OKC's Saturday-night contest against the Clippers.

Since his benching, Bazley had actually been performing well. Most notably, he scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Dec. 22 against the Nuggets, another Thunder win. But Bazley's momentum was halted on Dec. 26 when the team announced he had entered health and safety protocols due to COVID-19.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the last one. Thunder guard Tre Mann entered protocols right in the middle of Oklahoma City's Sunday game against New Orleans, and three more players -- Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins -- entered protocols on Monday.

That's a huge blow, because unlike Bazley and Mann, JRE and Wiggins have been starting recently. Losing Poku also will cut into the Thunder's forward depth.

It's not a struggle unique to Oklahoma City. Chicago, Brooklyn, Miami and many other teams around the league have had players miss time with COVID-19, despite the NBA's robust vaccination record. The league is taking no chances, though vaccinated players and staffers are unlikely to develop serious symptoms.

The solution? Hardship contracts.

While waiting for its players to get healthy, the NBA is loathe to cancel games and instead is asking teams to sign players to short-term "hardship" or emergency contracts. The results so far have been somewhat wacky and occasionally delightful.

Seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson, for instance, recently reappeared with the Boston Celtics at age 40. A hardship contract scored Johnson his first NBA appearance since 2018.

It will be interesting to see who the Thunder bring in if they extend any hardship contracts. But they'll hope any such players can contribute right away, as the team has won four of its past five ballgames.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey still in the lineup, for now, Oklahoma City will aim to continue its winning ways.

The Denver victory might have had more to do with the Nuggets than with OKC's own play. After struggling through three quarters, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone sat his starters and never put them back in, including reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.

"As a coach, what I really care about is when you play and compete, and play the right way," Malone explained after the game. "We didn't have that from our starting group tonight. Our bench had it. And even when we cut (the deficit), I wasn't going to put our starters back in. They didn't deserve the opportunity."

Fair enough, but it did help the Thunder steal the ballgame 108-94.

Oklahoma City fell the next night in Phoenix, which is no surprise given the Suns' outstanding season so far. But Oklahoma City returned home on Sunday night, after Christmas, and played a thriller against New Orleans.

Oklahoma City ran out to a big lead right out of the gate, and led by as much as 17 in the first half. The Pelicans pulled close in the third quarter, however, and vaulted ahead in the fourth.

A 3-pointer immediately put the Thunder back on top, though, and they stayed there to secure a 117-112 win. SGA put up 31 points in the ballgame, followed by 24 points from the surprising two-way player-turned-starter, Wiggins.

Unfortunately, as discussed before, Wiggins will be out of commission for a while now. And who knows who might be suiting up in his stead?

The Thunder hit the road on Tuesday, Dec. 28, for a contest against the Sacramento Kings. Then it's on to Phoenix on Dec. 29 before a New Year's Eve matchup with the Knicks at the Paycom Center.

Happy New Year, Thunder fans. May 2022 bring more wins than 2021.

Thunder Up!