The Graham Jam

My friend and I were chatting when he looked across the court and said: "Is that Drake?"

We were sitting in the lower bowl at Paycom Center, perhaps 20 rows behind the Thunder bench, and I followed his gaze across the floor to an ostentatiously dressed man sitting courtside.

It sure looked like Drake. And soon the arena scoreboard zoomed in and confirmed that the famous Canadian rapper was, in fact, taking in the game.

It wasn't obvious why he would be. After all, that Wednesday-night matchup between the Thunder and Rockets featured two of the league's youngest teams, rebuilding ballclubs with losing records.

Oklahoma City led the game through three quarters; in the fourth, though, a late Houston surge put them over the top and handed OKC its seventh straight loss, marring a 39-point night from Drake's fellow countryman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and sending us home disappointed.

The Thunder had been undermanned during the game, losing Josh Giddey and Derrick Favors to illness while Mike Muscala and Kenrich Williams were also out.

The situation got more dire the following night, however, when OKC traveled to Memphis and learned that SGA would be unavailable after sustaining a concussion during the Rockets game. That left the Thunder without SGA, Giddey, Favors or Williams for the contest.

Even so, the result was still shocking. The Grizzlies jumped out big early and never slowed down, outplaying Oklahoma City in all phases to put the game out of reach early. After one quarter, OKC trailed by 15; at halftime the Memphis lead was 36.

And the Grizzlies scored even more points in the second half, ultimately defeating the Thunder by 73 points — which, as it turns out, was the largest margin of victory in NBA history.

After the game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was quick to point out that Oklahoma City had been playing respectably before Thursday's result, despite its record.

"This isn't indicative of who our team is, how we've competed all season, from training camp all the way through the games," Daigneault told the media. "So it's important, I think, to keep that in mind internally, for us."

Daigneault said the result was just part of "the highs and lows of competition."

"Competition comes with great joy, and also comes with grief and frustration and anger. And when you step in that ring, that's what you expose yourself to, is all of those things. It's what makes it such a fulfilling experience, and that's why the joy feels so good — because when you get punched, and you taste your own blood, it doesn't feel great." Muscala, the Thunder's oldest

Muscala, the Thunder's oldest player, was quick to accept partial responsibility for the fiasco. "We didn't fight, obviously," Muscala said. "You'd rather go out fighting. You'd rather go out putting your best foot forward and playing together, and I need to do a better job as a veteran on this team to be a model of that, to instill that. So that's something that I need to improve on."

Oklahoma City sure had plenty of time to think about its historic drubbing, as the Thunder were off all weekend before returning to the court Monday night. Fortunately, their landing was soft: OKC faced the Pistons in Detroit, owners of the league's worst record at 4-18. For three quarters, it looked as though Detroit

For three quarters, it looked as though Detroit would extend the Thunder losing streak. Despite its season-long struggles from distance, Detroit was hitting 3s at a dizzying clip and keeping OKC at arm's length.

But Oklahoma City exploded for 42 points in the fourth quarter, overcoming an 18-point deficit to snap its losing streak with a 114-103 victory. Gilgeous-Alexander notched 30 points and 13 assists, while Lu Dort had 28 points of his own as Oklahoma City put the bitter taste of Thursday's loss behind them.

They'll look to carry on the momentum with a Wednesday-night matchup in Drake's hometown of Toronto. Who knows? Maybe he'll catch some more Thunder basketball, with a different result.