In Thursday night’s preseason finale, the Thunder provided one final bit of confirmation that its way of life is currently one defined by deficient defense and disappointing effort.

“We have room to improve,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “We can’t hide the fact that we’re not where we need to be.”

Where the Thunder seems to be is at the corner of lost and baffled. Kings bench players Sergio Rodriguez and Andres Nocioni had their way with the Thunder’s defense, Rodriguez with his passing and Nocioni with his dead-eye shooting.

“We’re definitely not happy with our play,” said Nick Collison. “You can’t just shrug it off as preseason because we’re trying to play well and we’re not doing it. It’s something that we need to get better at. That’s all it is. We just realize we’re not a great team yet and we got to work hard every day to get there.”

Darnell Mayberry and Mike Baldwin talk about the game: