Over the course of the season, the Thunder have been a tough, stingy defensive unit. OKC are 10th in defensive rating and have achieved this statistical feat while being one of the youngest teams in the league.
Young teams are typically terrible on defense and generally struggle to get stops consistently. Unlike offense, defense requires co-ordination and teamwork among all five players on the court at any one time. This is the aspect of the game that young players can tend to have issues with, good defense needs constant attention.
Somehow, the Thunder have managed the buck this trend and play excellently on the less glamorous end of the floor without having a traditional rim protector for large stretches of the season.