NEW YORK — Because of a pregame Steven Adams elbow sprain, Nick Collison went from out of the rotation into the starting lineup on Friday night in Dallas.

He had two rebounds in the first four minutes, six in his first eight and 11 total, needing only 21 minutes to become the sixth Thunder player this season to put up double-digits in a game.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are two mega-stars. They lead the Thunder in shots, points and headlines by a wide margin. So OKC's identity is of a top-heavy unit relying primarily on individual talent to overwhelm team skill.

But the most underrated aspect of OKC's success is done with incredible roster-wide balance. Even without any of the NBA's top-28 individual per-game rebounders, the Thunder is not only the league's best rebounding team, but a historically dominant one.