Tag: Cason Wallace

Thunder rookie Cason Wallace earns praise from Mark Daigneault for poise, toughness

Earning a spot start, Cason Wallace stepped up with a career effort and earned praise from coach Mark Daigneault after defeating the Jazz.

Earning a spot start in place of Lu Dort, Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Cason Wallace stepped up with a career effort and earned praise from coach Mark Daigneault after defeating the Utah Jazz.

Wallace produced 16 points, four assists, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in the 134-129 victory on the road. He went 6-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, in 32 minutes in his seventh start of the season.

The 10th pick provided the team with a lift on offense and defense. He drew the task of guarding Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson and held his own in those matchups.

Daigneault liked how Wallace took on those assignments.

He is not flinching. He has really been like that from the get-go. He takes on pretty major matchups. Sexton is playing as well as anybody right now and he guarded him and had his chest on him on a lot of plays. These are great experiences for him. He is very early in his career and a young player but (has) just great poise and mental toughness.

Wallace is averaging 6.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 41.4% shooting from 3-point range in 41 games. He has scored in double figures 12 times this season and ranks 24th in the league among all players in 3-point percentage.

The 20-year-old has filled various roles, from starting to contributing to the second unit. He has impressed the team since early in training camp, and has earned the trust of his teammates and coaching staff to play a large role this season.

His overall numbers may not earn him a place on an All-Rookie team, but the former Kentucky standout is contributing at a high level nightly. The team knows Wallace will bring energy and effort every game, which will be needed throughout the year.

“Cason is who he always is: Super steady,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 31 points. “He knows what he brings to the game. He knows his job every night and does it at an A-plus level every night. Whether the ball is going in or not, he always brings toughness, physicality and good decision-making to the floor.”

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Player grades: Thunder wins thriller over red-hot Jazz, 134-129

Player grades for the Thunder’s 134-129 win over the Jazz.

Oklahoma City used a pair of defensive stops of Utah’s Simone Fontecchio and Jordan Clarkson to earn a sigh of relief and collect an intense 134-129 over the Jazz. The result snapped a two-game losing skid for OKC and a six-game winning streak for Utah.

“That was an impressive 48-minute effort in the middle of a road trip off those two games we just had the other day,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “We’re not feeling 100%, yet really competed for 48 minutes together on both ends.

“They’re the hottest team in the league coming in. They play with a lot of confidence. They put a lot of game pressure on us and the crowd was great. It was a great experience for us.”

Even though the Thunder led wire-to-wire, the Jazz threatened throughout the entire contest. OKC led 39-27 following the first quarter and 76-67 at halftime.

A 28-point third quarter by the Jazz cut OKC’s advantage to 98-95 entering the final quarter. What followed was an exciting final 12 minutes.

In their non-SGA lineup, the Thunder started the final quarter on a 15-7 run to build a 113-102 lead a little over three minutes into the final period. However, Utah cut it to four points with a little less than two minutes left.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored with the shot clock ticking away to push the lead back to six, but Collin Sexton quickly got those points back on a dunk.

On the ensuing possession, Cason Wallace hit a massive left-wing 3-pointer to give OKC a seven-point lead with 52 seconds left. Clarkson quickly made a 3-pointer on the other end to return it to a four-point contest with 42 seconds remaining.

A monster Chet Holmgren block on Walker Kessler with 12 seconds left served as a defensive dagger. Utah had a couple of more scrambling chances to potentially tie it before the final buzzer sounded.

All five Thunder starters scored at least 15 points. OKC shot 56% from the field and went 14-of-32 (43.8%) from 3. Led by Gilgeous-Alexander, it converted 24-of-28 free throws.

The Thunder dished 36 assists on 48 baskets, including a franchise-record 24 assists in the first half. They also scored a season-high 76 points in the first half.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 31 points including a monster 15-of-17 night from the free-throw line. Jalen Williams continues his ascension with 27 points on 14 shots and eight assists.

“We’re learning fast,” Williams said on attacking Utah’s zone. “I think that’s the biggest thing with how young we are — we’re able to kinda flush one game, understand what we need to do better and go out there and execute.”

Josh Giddey also had one of his best games of the season with 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Holmgren added 15 points and four blocks. Wallace, who was given the spot start, scored 16 points.

“They’re a talented team and they kept coming at us all night,” Giddey said. “We knew coming in, they were the hottest team in the league — especially in front of their home fans. It’s a tough place to play… I think we all did a great job weathering the storm down the stretch.”

Meanwhile, the Jazz also had a high-octane scoring outing. Utah shot 48% from the field and went 13-of-32 (40.6%) from 3. It had a busy night at the charity stripe, shooting 30-of-36. The Jazz had 33 assists on 43 baskets.

Sexton scored 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting and had seven assists. Lauri Markannen had 26 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. John Collins tallied 21 points and four rebounds.

This was a massive win for the Thunder, who needed to get out of their two-game losing funk. Beating the Jazz — one of the hottest teams in the league — is the exact type of boost OKC has recently yearned for.

“I think all but two teams have a very condensed January because of the in-season tournament,” Daigneault said. “You look at some of the scores at night, there’s like some gorey scores right now so I don’t think anybody is feeling great.

“We’re drumming up a good amount of energy I think. Tonight is a good example, we probably didn’t have our fastball physically but we had our fastball mentally and competitively and that’s all we can ask for… I always try to evaluate our competitiveness and energy and I thought that was there tonight.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Player grade: Strong second half helps Thunder beat short-handed Heat, 128-120

Player grades for the Thunder’s 128-120 win over the Heat.

Only leading by six points, Tyler Herro’s missed sideway 3-pointer helped spark a game-sealing transition bucket as Josh Giddey passed out of a double team to find a wide-open Chet Holmgren for the easy dunk.

The transition score ended a three-plus minute scoring drought for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their 128-120 win over the Miami Heat. A strong second half by OKC sealed the road victory.

“I just didn’t think, physically, we were very good (in the first half),” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “Especially at the rim — they were just kinda slicing through us getting wherever they wanted to go. They were very comfortable there. In the second half, we really tightened the screws there.”

It was a tight, high-scoring contest in the first half that saw the Heat enter the break with a 69-65 lead. Miami couldn’t miss from outside as it shot 9-of-19 from 3 in the first two quarters.

After allowing nearly 70 points to a short-handed Heat, it looked like OKC’s defensive woes on the road continued. Coming out of halftime though, the Thunder locked down and held Miami to 33% shooting for the final two frames.

The Thunder started the third quarter on an 11-0 run to take a nine-point lead. OKC turned in a 34-point period to enter the final frame with a 99-96 lead. In the opening five minutes of the final frame, OKC capped off a 20-2 run to open a 16-point lead.

In the final three-and-a-half minutes, the Heat rattled off 10 consecutive points to apply pressure to the Thunder. After leading by 16 points with a little under four minutes left, it suddenly was a six-point contest.

The aforementioned Holmgren bucket released any stress of a potential Miami comeback.

The Thunder continue to be an offensive machine. OKC shot 59% from the field and went 14-of-33 (42.4%) from 3. It dished out 36 assists on 51 baskets.

In OKC’s win, it broke a franchise record for most 30-plus assists games in a season with 12. A wildly impressive stat considering the Thunder have played just 36 games this season. Last season and 2018-19 had the second-most 30-plus assists games at 11.

The Thunder’s trio headlined this win. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points, Jalen Williams finished a rebound shy of his first career triple-double with 19-12-9 and Chet Holmgren totaled 23 points and three blocks.

“We’re sharing the ball, it’s impressive,” Daigneault said on their offensive outing. “They trust one another and trust what we’re doing… I thought we had great movement tonight. Both floor movement with our off-ball stuff and movement with the ball.”

Meanwhile, the Heat turned in a valiant effort considering their health situation. Jimmy Butler missed his fifth consecutive contest and Kyle Lowry was ruled out.

The Heat shot 46% from the field and went 15-of-36 (41.7%) from 3. Miami shot 23-of-28 from the free-throw line. Overall, the Heat had six players score double-digit points.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 11 rebounds and six assists. Jaime Jaquez Jr. contributed with 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting and five rebounds.

Haywood Highsmith’s 19 points and Nikola Jovic’s 15 points also were surprising performances for the Heat in a game where they needed those types of outings without two of their best players.

Overall, it was a solid win to wrap up OKC’s four-game road trip. Even without Butler, the Heat prove to be a viable opponent. The Thunder will need to quickly enjoy this win as they’re set to conclude a road-and-home back-to-back.

“It was the end of the trip, we have not had our fastball physically the last couple games I think,” Daigneault said. “I didn’t think we had it tonight. But we drummed up the energy. We had the mental toughness to stay in it and drum up the energy…

“I thought we got stronger as the game went on and I thought some of that was just the contagiousness of the group. We see that time and time again.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder’s late comeback falls short in 141-138 loss to Hawks

Player grades for the Thunder’s 141-138 loss to the Hawks.

Trailing the entire game, Isaiah Joe had a chance to complete a 21-point comeback with a corner 3 at the end of regulation. Alas, the sharpshooter’s attempt fell short as the final buzzer sounded.

Playing on the second night of a home-and-road back-to-back, the Oklahoma City Thunder fought admirably after looking sluggish for most of the contest in their 141-138 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

“We didn’t have our best tonight obviously but I thought we stuck together and stayed in it,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “I thought as the game wore on, we got more and more energy and more and more engaged after obviously a sluggish start.”

Not scoring their first points until nearly four minutes into the contest, it was evident fairly early the Thunder entered Atlanta battling fatigue. A flight delay the previous night only guaranteed OKC tipped off with a scheduling disadvantage.

To the Hawks’ credit, they took advantage of this and got off to a 39-25 lead following the first quarter. The Thunder’s offense started to pick up in the second quarter with 34 points, but Atlanta’s 37-point second frame saw OKC enter halftime trailing 76-59.

The third quarter saw both teams turn it up a notch with their scoring — the Thunder scored 44 points and the Hawks scored 40 points. Entering the final frame, OKC trailed 116-103.

From that point on, the Thunder and Hawks continued to exchange buckets. With less than three minutes left, it looked like OKC’s hopes of a comeback finally vanished as Atlanta led by 15 points.

Instead, what proceeded was a 14-2 run by the Thunder in the final 2:20 of the contest to work their way back for the aforementioned chance of potentially tying it up.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander single-handedly almost mounted a comeback as he scored the final nine points of the contest. Overall, he led OKC with 33 points and 13 rebounds.

Jalen Williams was OKC’s other big scorer with 21 points. The Thunder enjoyed a productive night from their bench with 49 points.

After a slow start, the Thunder turned into a scoring machine for the final three frames. Overall, OKC shot 55% from the field and went 18-of-36 (50%) from 3. It shot 20-of-26 from the free-throw line and collected 30 assists on 50 buckets.

The problem for the Thunder was on the other side — the Hawks scored with ease as they had 37-plus points in the first three quarters. Atlanta shot 51% from the field and went 14-of-39 (35.9%) from 3. It went 31-of-33 from the free-throw line and had 30 assists on 48 buckets.

The monster scoring night from the Hawks was headlined by four 20-point scorers. Atlanta’s backcourt led the way as Trae Young had 24 points and 11 assists while Dejounte Murray had 22 points, six assists and six rebounds.

Jalen Johnson scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Bogdan Bogdanovic totaled 23 points and shot 5-of-11 from 3 off the bench.

“The energy that we needed to have wasn’t there for much of the night on the defensive end,” Daigneault said. “… We just didn’t play well enough to win.”

Considering the circumstances, this one felt like it was safe to pencil in as a scheduled loss for the Thunder. After picking up a massive win over the Boston Celtics, it only makes sense OKC struggles on the second night of a home-and-road back-to-back.

It felt that way for most of the game. But even though the Hawks led wire-to-wire, OKC’s late flurry to turn it into a three-point deficit makes this loss easier to stomach.

“It’s not always going to be perfect (but) I’ll always ride with these guys any night,” Daigneault said. “It wasn’t our fastball tonight… To continue to fight the way we did was impressive.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder can’t overcome LeBron’s 40 points in 129-120 loss to Lakers

Player grades for the Thunder’s 129-120 loss to the Lakers.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Hitting on a 25-foot 3-pointer, Anthony Davis gave Los Angeles its largest lead of the night at 26 points with under four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Oklahoma City Thunder managed to cut it to single digits in the final frame but ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 129-120.

“I thought in the first half, they were a little bit too comfortable,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “… I thought they were in a pretty good groove and rhythm. They were ready to play. They were sharp.”

The Thunder got off to a hot start, scoring a season-high 39 points in the first quarter. After that though, OKC’s offense sputtered in the second quarter and was outscored by 15 points to enter halftime trailing 71-59.

The Lakers started the second half on a 19-11 run as a LeBron James to Davis lob helped push Los Angeles’ lead to 20 points. The rest of the game played out similarly as the Lakers held a healthy lead.

Overall, the Thunder shot 48% from the field but went 13-of-41 (31.7%) from 3. OKC had plenty of quality looks from deep throughout the second half that missed — extinguishing any hopes of a comeback attempt.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams headlined OKC’s loss. The duo scored 34 points and 28 points respectively in the defeat.

Meanwhile, the Lakers — who entered the game declaring this was a must-win contest as they hoped to snap a four-game losing streak — were led by their star duo of James and Davis.

James scored a season-high 40 points on 13-of-20 shooting. He also had seven assists and seven rebounds. The 38-year-old dominated OKC and scored 11 points in the final five minutes to secure the outcome. Meanwhile, Davis had 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists — a strong showing considering he circled this game as a ‘must-win’ for Los Angeles.

Off the bench, Rui Hachimura tallied 21 points and six rebounds. Austin Reaves chipped in with 11 points and nine assists.

“They were good tonight in terms of shot-making,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Some of it you tip your hat, some of it is they were a little too comfortable early in the game.”

Overall, the Lakers shot 52% from the field and went 15-of-32 (50%) from 3. Los Angeles dished out 37 assists on its 47 baskets.

“That was the challenge tonight, we knew what it was and so did they,” Daigneault said on Davis’ ‘must-win’ comment heading into this game. “And credit them. They were the better team. They backed that up tonight. They played like the more desperate team.”

It was a rough night for the Thunder. OKC couldn’t capitalize on its 3-point attempts while it was the opposite for the Lakers who enjoyed an efficient scoring night.

“They were the better team clearly for the 48 minutes of the game,” Daigneault said. “They were ready to play. We tipped our hat to them for that…

“When you put a team that’s that caliber of shot-making in rhythm, or you allow them to get into rhythm, that’s when that stuff starts to fall… I didn’t think we had our fastball there defensively in the first half.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Mark Daigneault reveals why Thunder have trusted Cason Wallace early on

Cason Wallace has emerged as a key contributor with the Thunder, and is making an impact on both ends of the floor.

Cason Wallace has emerged as a key contributor with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the 10th pick is making an impact on both ends of the floor thus far.

Wallace is averaging 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 52.1% shooting from 3-point range in 22 games. He leads the league in 3-point percentage and is second among first-year players in plus-minus (plus-103), just behind teammate Chet Holmgren.

The 20-year-old has filled various roles, from starting to contributing to the second unit. He impressed the team early in training camp and has earned the trust of his teammates and coaching staff to play a large role early.

Mark Daigneault explained how Wallace has earned the trust of the team.

The reason we trust him is he is very efficient on the offensive end of the floor. He takes the right shots. He keeps the ball moving. He is a great spacer. He can do a lot of different things — spaces, cuts, screens. Then, defensively, he can guard and guard reliably. Guys that compete like that and play like that improve quickly, so we’re incentivized to give them a lot of minutes and experience when they maximize their minutes.

Wallace entered the league known as a stout perimeter defender and has shown that ability each night he has taken the floor. From picking up the length of the court to helping out on the weak side, Wallace has dazzled on defense.

He has drawn some rather tough defensive assignments and the team believes he can hold his own in any matchup. He has guarded Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Trae Young and enjoys matching up with players of that caliber.

“It is a blessing just being able to guard some of the best players in the world, and that being my job every night is good,” Wallace said on Tuesday. “It is fun.”

The Thunder did extensive homework on Wallace before the draft and haven’t been surprised by his effectiveness in the early going. They have liked how Wallace has fit into their system and adjusted to his teammates.

“I think there are a couple of things that surprised us in terms of his finishing and how efficiently he has done that,” Daigneault said. “His shooting has, obviously, been great and how comfortable he looks on the offensive end and functioning inside of the team. That is something you don’t really know until somebody gets out there. He has done a really nice job with that.”

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Recap: OKC Thunder’s Tuesday practice (Dec. 12)

Recap: OKC Thunder’s Tuesday practice (Dec. 12).

The Oklahoma City Thunder held practice on Tuesday a day after their 134-120 win over the short-handed Utah Jazz.

After the win, OKC now sits at 15-7 and in sole possession of second place in the Western Conference standings. The Thunder will now enjoy a couple of days off before their road game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, Dec. 14.

Following practice, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and rookie Cason Wallace spoke with the media.

Daigneault talked about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s growth to superstardom while Wallace reflected back on his rookie season thus far. Here’s a quick recap of the Thunder’s Tuesday practice:

Player grades: Thunder avoid disaster, overcome 30-0 run in 126-120 win over Mavericks

Player grades: Thunder avoid disaster, overcome 30-0 run in 126-120 win over Mavericks.

Stealing the inbound pass, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander started the transition and willed his way to the basket for the layup. The crucial late-game turnover sealed this game’s fate.

After giving up an astonishing 30-0 run in the fourth quarter, the Oklahoma City Thunder quickly got out of their funk and collected an impressive 126-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

“Obviously, great mental toughness out of the team to go down (six points) with that game context and to get present and stack a couple of good possessions,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the unconventional win. “Really good attacks offensively after obviously having a hard time finding it on that end…

“It’s kinda a weird way to win but certainly don’t want to underestimate the mental toughness of the team.”

It was the game of the night as the Thunder and Mavericks played a fast-paced style of basketball where each team exchanged loud blows.

A 39-point second quarter by the Thunder helped them enter halftime with a 72-56 lead. That lead grew in the second half as OKC closed the third quarter on a 17-8 run to enter the final frame with a 107-84 lead.

It appeared the Thunder were going to cruise to an easy win — instead what transpired was a mesmerizing 30-0 run by the Mavericks that flipped a 23-point deficit into a six-point lead. It was an unreal stretch of basketball that was hard to process and see unfold.

The 30-0 run by the Mavericks is the longest run without allowing an opposing team basket since the 1996-97 season — when the NBA started to keep track of play-by-play stats.

“Not a lot of 30-0 runs happening and losing the game,” Daigneault said. “So to win despite that is obviously crazy.”

It felt like the Thunder were on the verge of a massive collapse that would’ve easily been the lowest of lows for OKC’s strong season. Instead, a Jalen Williams dunk finally busted the seal on their basket. The Thunder finished the game on a 15-3 run to close out the road win.

“When you’re going through an avalanche like that, I just think it’s my responsibility to try to reset the team and get us to take a deep breath,” Daigneault said on calling his final timeout with 4:18 left. “… I give the guys a lot of credit, each time we reset, they got their feet back on the ground and we were able to go out there and really perform well in the last four minutes.”

After a Chet Holmgren layup tied the game at 120 apiece, Williams scored on a scoop layup to retake the lead OKC never relinquished again. With a two-point lead, the Thunder scored once again on the aforementioned Gilgeous-Alexander steal-and-layup.

Down by four points, the Mavericks missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds to seal OKC’s win.

The Thunder had another efficient scoring night as a whole. OKC shot a pedestrian 44% from the field but went a sizzling 20-of-44 (45.5%) from 3. It also shot 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the free-throw line.

It was an evenly distributed scoring outing for the Thunder. Eight players scored double-digit points with nobody scoring more than 23 points. Gilgeous-Alexander only scored 17 points.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks were led by a monster outing from Luka Doncic — who missed the first night of their back-to-back to attend the birth of his child. In a chuckling 46 minutes, Doncic had 36 points on 11-of-22 shooting, 18 assists and 15 rebounds for the colossal triple-double. This included going 5-of-13 from 3.

It was the type of performance Dallas needed from its franchise player with Kyrie Irving ruled out with foot soreness.

Doncic’s running mate in the pick-and-roll — Dereck Lively II — also had the best game of his young career. The rookie center had 20 points on perfect 9-of-9 shooting, 16 rebounds and seven blocks. The 19-year-old was the recipient of several lob passes.

Derrick Jones Jr. also had a big night with 24 points including going 6-of-12 from 3. The journeyman has reinvented his career by adding a 3-point shot this season.

Overall, this was a massive win for the Thunder. Playing a high-octane offense like the Mavericks usually results in these high-scoring, fast-paced games with major swings each way sprinkled throughout the contest.

The Thunder took a gut punch in the fourth quarter by giving up a historic 30-0 run, but they weathered the storm and answered back with a run of their own to steal the road victory.

“We preach tight huddles, I feel like that’s what got us through the stretch,” Cason Wallace said on the win. “Just staying together and having that mindset that we can still win the game.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder concludes in-season tournament with 106-103 loss to Timberwolves

Player grades for the Thunder’s 106-103 loss to the Timberwolves in their final in-season tournament game.

Trailing by 3 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s deep 3-point attempt clunked off the backboard as the final buzzer sounded.

The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t create any late-game magic in their 106-103 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The loss drops OKC’s final record of in-season tournament group play to 1-3.

“We could’ve attacked it a little bit better,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Minnesota’s zone defense. “We also missed some shots during that stretch. And a combination of those two things made it hard on us… The second-half offense really hurt us tonight.”

After leading 61-53 in the first half, the Thunder’s offense sunk as the Timberwolves limited them to 42 points on 31% shooting the rest of the way.

The second half saw OKC struggle to generate quality looks as the Timberwolves suffocated each drive to the basket. Minnesota chipped away at OKC’s lead and entered the final frame trailing by just two points.

Troy Brown Jr. — who closed this game out in place of Anthony Edwards, who missed most of the second half after a hard landing on his hip — scored five quick points to give Minnesota a five-point lead with 31 seconds left.

A Chet Holmgren 3-pointer helped give OKC some slight hope as it cut its deficit to two points with 27 seconds left. After trying to force a turnover, the Thunder finally decided to foul Karl-Anthony Towns, who swished in both free throws to regain a four-point lead.

A Gilgeous-Alexander dunk cut it to two points once again with five seconds left. Brown Jr. split a pair of free throws and gave OKC a shot to tie it trailing by three points with four seconds left. The final possession resulted in the aforementioned Gilgeous-Alexander 3-point attempt that didn’t go in.

“Trying to get the ball to Shai in some space,” Daigneault said on the final play. “Gobert on the ball I thought was a little disruptive to the entry pass and pushed us a little further out than we would’ve liked to be.

“But at the end of the day, we had a really good player with the ball, down three, and that’s what you can ask for.”

Overall, the Thunder shot 41% from the field. This included an 11-of-30 (36.7%) from 3. Rebounding continues to be an issue for OKC as it was outrebounded, 51-36.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves also struggled on offense as they shot 42% from the field. The difference for them was from outside as a 14-of-33 (42.4%) night from 3 helped keep them in it.

“I thought they were uncomfortable with the way we were guarding them,” Daigneault said on the defense. “I thought there was a little slippage in the third (quarter). After we built a little bit of a lead, we let Edwards get a little loose there.”

Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC in its three-point loss. The 25-year-old scored a game-high 32 points. In his first game at Minnesota, Holmgren had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves survived the absence of Edwards, who scored 21 points and had five rebounds before he exited the game with a hip injury in the third quarter. Brown Jr. stepped up and scored 17 points.

The frontcourt duo of Towns and Rudy Gobert led Minnesota to the win. Towns had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Gobert had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

“We have to get better as a team and practice and the film room and continue to get better,” Holmgren said on the loss. “We can’t just brush it off because then we can’t learn lessons from it.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

The Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t a fluke and these numbers are proof

My GOODNESS this is a fun team to watch.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder are having a truly delightful season but it’s not just a flash in the pan. This team is built to win and they can do it now.

While the Thunder have received a sensational campaign from rookie big man Chet Holmgren, it’s the depth of the roster that makes this roster such a thrilling team to watch.

We just saw Oklahoma City record one of the most efficient offensive performances in NBA history. But it wasn’t just a one-game sample size against the lowly Portland Trail Blazers.

The Thunder are currently shooting 50.3 percent from the field, 41.0 percent on 3-pointers and 86.7 percent on free throws. All three are either the best or tied for the best in the NBA.

Only two other teams in the league have slashed at 50-40-80 after 14 games, per Stathead: the 2017-18 Warriors (who won a title with Kevin Durant) and the 2018-19 Warriors (who won the West with KD).

That caliber of efficiency is likely unsustainable but it’s not just offense where the Thunder are playing well. In fact, Oklahoma City has the best net rating (8.5) in the Western Conference. They’re one of just four teams with a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.

Meanwhile, to further add to the excitement, the eye test and the numbers say Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are two of the most clutch players in the league.

Holmgren, who is shooting 50-40-90 to start his professional career, is not only a frontrunner to win Rookie of the Year but could also make a case for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year as well. The big leads the league in shots defended at the rim and is tied for the most total shots contested.

Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, is a legitimate candidate to win MVP. According to dunksandthrees.com, he trails only Nikola Jokic for the most Estimated Wins (EW) so far this season.

He creates havoc on the defensive end of the floor, too, and ranks as one of the league leaders in deflections. These stops lead to easy scoring chances for the Thunder, who lead the league in points per game scored in transition.

Projections via Basketball-Reference have this team finishing the season as the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference. This model also gives OKC the second-highest odds (35.6 percent) of any team in the league to make the NBA Finals, trailing only the Celtics.

Although less bullish, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI) more modest predictions believe the Thunder will finish with one of the three best records in the West as well.

Even adjusted for luck, the Thunder have one of the best teams in the league this season. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s reasonable to expect that the team could make a run to appear in the Western Conference Finals.

The rivalry continues…

Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images

LeBron James and the Lakers played against Dillon Brooks and the Rockets on Sunday night. Once again, James was defended by Brooks throughought the game.

After a bucket from the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, he hit the “too small” celebration on Brooks.

“So far this season, Brooks is the leader in possessions spent guarding James. Unfortunately for the Rockets, though, the results are not exactly in the favor of Brooks.

James is currently 10-of-15 (66.6 percent) on 2-pointers when Brooks is credited as the primary defender against him this season, per NBA.com. James, however, has recorded three turnovers on these opportunities.

Either way, watching him use the “too small” celebration adds yet another moment in the ongoing saga between James and Brooks.”

You can watch exactly what happened during the possession but if one thing was clear, James’ teammate Anthony Davis absolutely loved what he saw.

Shootaround

Saturday Night Light

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— A fan suffered an unfortunate injury during his half-court shot at a Lakers game

— HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto polled 35 media members and ranked each NBA arena, from best to worst

— Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin examines four potential targets for Philadelphia