The Oklahoma City Thunder had a chance to send a message to the Detroit Pistons that their young core is the better one. Instead, the only message the Thunder sent is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs his teammates to step up and carry their weight.
After the Thunder led by as many as 16 points, a disastrous second half helped the Pistons defeat the Thunder, 112-103. The Pistons outscored the Thunder in the final two quarters, 64-40.
The story of the game is simple: Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, the rest of the Thunder starters did not perform well.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points, the other four Thunder started combined to score 29 points.
Despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s marvelous play, it took until the fourth quarter for one of his teammates to reach 10 points. Under those circumstances, it’s nearly impossible to win most games unless Gilgeous-Alexander goes nuclear.
For the Pistons, it was a well-balanced attack as six players scored in double-digits.
Cade Cunningham finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Jaden Ivey finished with 15 points, 11 rebound, six assists and three blocks. Saddiq Bey scored a team-high 25 points. Isaiah Stewart finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this nine-point loss.