The Thunder’s two-game losing streak came to an end on Wednesday night when the club scored a victory over the Detroit Pistons. The contest was the first of what will be a three-game road trip that will include visits to New York and Boston, and fortunately for Billy Donovan’s team, it got off on the right foot.
For that, the club can thank its prized neophyte, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 27 points. Danilo Gallinari (19 points) did his part, as well, as he drilled a clutch 3-pointer which gave the Thunder a four-point cushion with less than 15 seconds remaining in the competition.
In the end, it all resulted in an OKC win by a final score of 114-107.
After the contest, in speaking with Nick Gallo for FOX Sports Oklahoma, Gilgerous-Alexander gave Chris Paul credit for the victory, which was interesting considering the comments that Paul himself made after Tuesday night’s loss to the Clippers.
“We figured out how to win and Chris did a great job of orchestrating down the stretch, making plays, and he made the right play every time, and we got easy looks and we capitalized on them.”
Paul called the team suffering consecutive losses to the Bucks and Clippers a good “learning experience,” and his pupils proved him correct on Wednesday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s post-game commentary was consistent with that thought, as well.
“We just tried to be the aggressors. We felt like in the past couple of games other teams have been the aggressors and put us on our heels. We tried to come out with that mentality in this game and it worked in our favor.”
.@nickgallo22 with @shaiglalex after the win against the Pistons.#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/JN5lXeJWSW
— FOX Sports Oklahoma (@FOXSportsOK) March 5, 2020
The team will now head to Madison Square Garden to square off against the struggling Knicks. Oklahoma City will be looking for their seventh win in nine contests.