Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder kept their momentum going as they defeated the under-manned San Antonio Spurs, 102-90.
Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the second night of the back-to-back as the Thunder continue to manage his abdominal strain for the remainder of the season.
With the win, the Thunder have won three consecutive games and five of their last six contests. An impressive turnaround from the five-game losing streak they endured coming out of the All-Star break.
“I thought the way we started the game was very positive,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s a tough back-to-back with tough travel, short turnaround, finished late last night and lost an hour of sleep.”
The lottery-picked rookies led the way for the Thunder as Jalen Williams recorded a near 21-point triple double and Ousmane Dieng turned in his best game of his rookie season.
“They’re taking advantage of their opportunities. I give them a lot of credit,” Daigneault said about Williams and Dieng. “They’re workers and they show up every day and attack the program… They’ve improved as a result and they’re talented players.”
Despite the win, it was an ugly and bogged down game where it was clear the Thunder struggled playing on short rest of the second night of a road back-to-back that occurred during daylight savings time.
Both teams shot below 40% from the field and below 30% from 3. The Thunder shot 36-of-95 (37.9%) from the field and 10-of-39 (25.6%) from 3. Meanwhile, the Spurs shot 33-of-88 (37.5%) from the field and 10-of-36 (27.8%) from 3.
The Spurs continue to be one of the worst teams in the league as they missed Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan. Malaki Branham was also ruled out for the game after six minutes. With the loss, the Spurs remain in the race for the worst record in the league and continue to strengthen their spot as a top-three lottery odds team.
After a lethargic start, the Thunder eventually built a 29-19 lead after the first quarter. By halftime, that lead was trimmed to five points.
The Spurs eventually tied it in the third quarter at 59-59 with 9:12 left, but the Thunder proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to re-establish control as they never surrendered the lead the rest of the way.
The Spurs were led by veteran wing Zach Collins, who finished with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds. Sharpshooter DeVonte’ Graham also scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 4-of-11 shooting from 3.
Just like Saturday’s win against the New Orleans Pelicans, while it wasn’t a pretty win against a Spurs squad missing several key players, that won’t reflect in the standings and the Thunder should not apologize for wins.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.