The basketball circled around the hoop before ultimately rimming out.
With a chance to hit an overtime game-winner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander launched a quality elbow mid-range jumper that didn’t fall in a 120-119 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz.
It was a decent look considering the circumstances, but that didn’t make this one-point loss any easier to stomach.
“The locker room was disappointed, which is a good thing,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It means we’re invested in the game. The best part about that one is I thought a lot about what we can control in the fourth quarter and overtime let us down. It wasn’t one we can write off on luck and those are the best losses. … We gotta look in the mirror on that one because there were a lot of things we could’ve done better.”
While Gilgeous-Alexander had a chance to decide the outcome of this back-and-forth contest, the previous two possessions arguably had bigger influences on the result.
Let’s take a look at them.
After forcing himself to the free-throw line, Gilgeous-Alexander, a 91.2% shooter, went an uncharacteristic 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Thunder just a two-point lead with 12.1 seconds left in overtime.
On the next possession, Lauri Markkanen, who went toe to toe against his fellow All-Star with 43 points and 10 rebounds, drew a three shot foul on Lu Dort off a curl. The Thunder challenged the call but were not able to get it reversed. Markkanen made all three free-throw attempts to give the Jazz the game-winning points.
While fans will harp on that foul call as the reason the Thunder lost, a poor final 17 minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime merit greater responsibility for the disappointing loss.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Thunder held an 86-78 lead. With 7:17 left, the Thunder maintained the eight-point advantage.
From that point, the Jazz outscored the Thunder, 35-26, in the final 12 minutes, which included 14 points in overtime.
The Thunder struggled to score efficiently. They went 45-of-112 (40.2%) from the field and a poor 8-of-37 (21.6%) from 3. The saving grace for the offense was OKC’s ability to get to the free-throw line, where it went 21-of-27 (77.8%).
Meanwhile, the Jazz also struggled on offense as they shot 42-of-100 (42%) from the field and 13-of-48 (27.1%) from 3. Similar to their opponent, the Jazz went 23-of-27 (85.2%) from the free-throw line.
Despite playing against one of the best young rim-protecting bigs, Walker Kessler — who finished with seven points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks — the Thunder stuck to their brand of basketball. They went 30-of-64 (46.9%) inside of the paint.
While the efficiency wasn’t there, the volume was, and it led to a big free-throw shooting night for the Thunder.
Speaking of Kessler, he was fantastic for the Jazz. Outside of his impressive stat-line (which included him shooting and making his first three-pointer in the opening possession), he played a pivotal role for the Jazz in this home win at the end of regulation.
Trailing by two points with 16.1 seconds left, Kessler grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds during a hectic three-second period that saw him tie the game with a second-chance (third-chance?) layup.
On the other end with 4.1 seconds left, Kessler blocked an Isaiah Joe reverse layup drive to send the game into overtime.
The Jazz only out-rebounded the Thunder by four, but it felt like a lot more in the closing minutes of the game as they kept getting scoring opportunities.
In fourth quarter and overtime, the Jazz collected seven offensive rebounds compared to the Thunder’s two.
“I thought we kinda held them in check on the glass until late in the game,” Daigneault said. “I thought it was a factor — especially late.”
This loss stings, as Daigneault mentioned the quietness that filled OKC’s locker room, and it’s hard to blame them for feeling that way.
Entering Thursday, the Jazz trailed by the Thunder by just half a game in the standings. The team switched spots in the standings: the Jazz are 10th while the Thunder are 11th in the Western Conference.
The Thunder will have plenty of chances to amend this loss. They play the Jazz three more times in their final 24 games of the regular season — and considering how jam-packed the standings are, the Thunder are going to need every one of those games.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.