Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Showed Maturity in Win Over Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks tried to keep it close, gave aa few runs to shrink the deficit but never could get over the hump on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

As the OKC Thunder pulled off another wire-to-wire win, 135-119, in Atlanta during a professional win.

There is no doubt the OKC Thunder are a better team, top-to-bottom, and they acted as such on Friday night as they secured a season-series sweep over the birds. At one point the Thunder grew a 27 point lead, but it was the path to get there which flexed professionalism from one of the youngest rosters in the sport.

The Thunder lost Chet Holmgren (Ankle) and Isaiah Joe (Back) at halftime after the two posted impressive first-half numbers. How did Oklahoma City respond? A 17-0 run after the Hawks tried to claw back into the game to put the kids to bed on the night.

While no one has questioned the Thunder's depth this season, this was just another segment of a game of illustration of just how great it is.

Sure, it was not a perfect 48 minute game - but it was pretty close. The Thunder not only paced the Hawks but lapped them and took care of business as they were supposed to on the road to keep its dominance against the Eastern Conference.

Song of the Day: Helter Skelter by the Beatles