Fashionable, even.  Improbability has defined the Thunder’s week, seven days without any big men. But on the final day, the inevitable met the controllable for Oklahoma City: The casualties of its small-ball lifestyle shook hands with the shortcomings that were meant to be the Thunder’s strengths.

The rebounding difference and the all-around scoring was too much for the Thunder to overcome, picking up its third loss of the night to Dallas.