Heading into their final game before the All-Star break, Oklahoma City was decimated by injuries.
During Thursday evening’s match against the Milwaukee BucksTHE Thunder It was missing many key contributors, including last year’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder were also without fellow starters Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein.
From their bench, Ajay Mitchell and Branden Carlson were also inactive.
As a result, the Thunder struggled to score and were held to 93 points in what ended up as a 17-point loss.
Despite numerous injuries, there was a silver lining for the Thunder: Thursday’s game marked Nikola Topic’s NBA debut, after dealing with serious injuries in addition to a cancer diagnosis.
In 12 minutes of action, Topic finished with two points on 1-for-3 shooting, along with a rebound and an assist.
Nikola Topić scores his first career NBA bucket ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/xYT1kNLHvg
– OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 13, 2026
After the match, Chet Holmgren open on what it means for Topic to return to action given the circumstances.
“I never want to say that I can fully understand or understand what he went through. With my situations, I was fighting to get my career back. Anyone who fights cancer is fighting for their life (…) This is a testament to the strength of Top (Subject).”
With the bye week coming up, Oklahoma City will have plenty of time to recover before its next game against the Brooklyn fillets.
As for Topic, he hopes to use the break as an opportunity to upgrade in hopes of joining Oklahoma City’s deep rotation.
