After starting the game in an 18-4 hole against the Memphis Grizzlies, things started to look eerily similar to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s last trip to Tennessee where they lost by 73 points. The margin of defeat wasn’t going to be anywhere close to that, but things were starting to look bleak in the first quarter as the Thunder looked lackadaisical and were struggling to generate points.
But once those opening sluggish minutes passed, the Thunder were able to get things going and make this a game by outscoring the Grizzlies by 14 points in the middle quarters of the game. The Thunder — behind the effort of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — were able to close this out thanks to his six points in the final 1:42 of the game.
It’s amazing what a difference it makes to have three of your four best players available with Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Kenrich Williams as that was not the case last time these two teams met. With the win, the Thunder now have a league-leading six 15+ point comebacks this season. As Thunder head coach Mark Daigneult said after the 73-point defeat, that game did not reflect who the team is and that was clearly shown on Monday. The Thunder wanted to see how Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey would play with both of them on the court more often and this game provided a glimpse as to what the future could hold with that backcourt duo.
Let’s take a look at player grades: