Darius Bazley – Page 4 – Syndication Server

OKC Thunder player grades: SGA ties season-low scoring output in 132-102 loss to Timberwolves

Out of all the games in Thunder history, that was certainly one of them.

The Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back, 132-102.

It seems like the Timberwolves have the Thunder’s number this season as they have defeated them by margins of eight points, 30 points, 37 points and 30 points. The final regular-season meeting between these teams featured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having his worst game in nearly two months as his 29-plus point streak comes to an end at seven games.

As has been the case since the All-Star break, the Thunder’s defense just continues to slip in the defensive rating standings as they are ranked 28th in the league entering this game. The Timberwolves ended up scoring 132 points on 52.3 percent shooting that included scoring 101 points in just the first three quarters. The Timberwolves were also hot from deep as they shot 22-of-52 (42.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

This was just a really bad loss as it feels like the lack of NBA talent is starting to finally catch up with the Thunder in recent games as they have lost five of their last seven games by double digits that includes giving up at least 120 points in regulation in five of those losses.

With the Thunder currently dealing with a lot of injuries that include some being season-ending ones, it’s hard to see things changing from here on out in the last month of the season at its current rate. Gilgeous-Alexander has been supernova and arguably the best scorer in the league since returning from his ankle sprain and that still isn’t enough to keep games interesting — much less collect wins for the Thunder. Let’s take a look at player grades as the team prepares to enjoy three consecutive days off.

OKC Thunder player grades: SGA scores another efficient 30-point game in 116-103 loss to Jazz

SGA continues to play like arguably the best player in the league since the All-Star Break.

The fourth quarter really changed the perception of this game. It looked like the Oklahoma City Thunder were going to be handed a second straight blowout loss against a northwest divisional for at home by the Utah Jazz as they trailed by as much as 23 points. The final score of the game was 116-103 and considering how bleak things were looking for the majority of the game, the Thunder should be appreciative of their effort and a final push to make this game competitive near the end.

For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was great once again as he finished with 33 points on 23 shots and 12 trips to the free-throw line. Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the best players in the league since the All-Star Break due to his high-scoring, high-efficiency streak of games he is currently on.

The Jazz shot the ball like one would expect the top offensive rating team to shoot it as the team went 23-of-52 (44.2 percent) from three this game. This included Bojan Bogdanovic making a career-high 11 threes this game as he finished with 35 points. Donovan Mitchell finished with 24 points and 10 assists while Rudy Gobert finished with 12 points and 17 rebounds. Off the bench, Jordan Clarkson added 20 points.

Overall, the Thunder turned what could’ve been a second straight blowout loss to a respectable double digit loss with its fourth quarter efforts. This is a sign of a well coached team that the players — especially in the Thunder’s case where they are currently shorthanded and forced to play multiple G League guys heavy minutes — are able to stay within the game and not let the scoreboard discourage its performance. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: SGA’s 29 points, Isaiah Roby’s career night leads Thunder to 119-107 win over Nuggets

7 of the 9 Thunder players tonight played significant G League minutes this season

In its most impressive win of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder entered Ball Arena and defeated the previous six-game-winning-streak Denver Nuggets, 119-107.

There’s a reason why this game’s line was 14.5 points in favor of the Nuggets. The shorthanded Thunder went on the high altitude road and were down to just nine players this game with seven of them playing significant G League minutes this season. Meanwhile, the Nuggets entered the contest with a six-game winning streak that included a margin of victory of over 11 points.

But despite all of that, the Thunder were able to capture its first win in Denver since April 2017. And what made this win that much more memorable is the fact that it was an overall solid effort from the nine guys that were on the floor tonight. Sure, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way and closed this game out. But the rest of the team did its part and stepped up big time. Especially from guys who are on the third unit and beyond who normally don’t see action unless the team is dealing with multiple injuries like it is right now. Who knows what the future holds for the majority of the guys who played this game, but for this one night, this win really exemplifies just how in synch the entire roster and coaching staff is that they can play shorthanded on the road and beat a Western Conference contender with the reigning MVP.

In respect to this great team performance, here are player grades for all nine guys who stepped on the floor.

OKC Thunder player grades: SGA’s 36 points pushes Thunder to OT win over Pacers, 129-125

Plan A Shae don’t care about your tanking efforts.

The Oklahoma City Thunder leave Gainbridge Fieldhouse with an overtime win and a season series split over the Indiana Pacers, 129-125.

In terms of the bigger picture of lottery odds, this win hurts the cause as the Pacers are just now a half-game back from the Thunder in the reverse standings. With the opportunity to grow some distance between themselves and the field for the fourth-best lottery odds, this win makes things much more interesting in the final stretch of the regular season.

With Josh Giddey a late scratch due to hip soreness, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was able to play on his Plan A as the lead ball-handler and turned in one of his best scoring games of the season as he finished with 36 points on 13-of-24 shooting. Tre Mann also stepped up and added 22 points.

For the Pacers, Buddy Hield led the way with 29 points and had seven players in double-digit scoring.

In terms of the actual 53 minute game, it was a very competitive contest as both teams went back and forth without either really growing that big of a lead. The Thunder’s offense was humming along as it scored 92 points in just the first three quarters. The worst three point shooting team in the league shot the ball well from outside as the Thunder went 11-of-31 (35.5%) and also dished out 23 team assists. The Thunder finished with five players scoring at least 10 points. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Giddey, Mann shine in MSG win over the Knicks, 127-123

The rookie guards had their best games of the season with the lights shining the brightest at MSG

Wow! What a great game for the Oklahoma City Thunder. You know, the entire point of this season is to lose as many games as possible to have as high of lottery odds they can possibly get. But when the Thunder win games like this — off the backs of their young players — it’s really hard to complain about the win and how it makes the team’s lottery odds a little bit worse.

The Thunder were able to enter the Mecca of Basketball and leave with a win over the New York Knicks, 127-123, in overtime as they shatter the hearts of the home crowd. The trio of Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Darius Bazley combined for 81 of the Thunder’s 127 points. The rookie guards were phenomenal this game as Giddey and Mann each had their best games of the season by far with Giddey getting a 28-point triple-double and Mann scoring his first 30 piece of his career.

In terms of the Knicks, Julius Randle also finished with a 30 point, 13 rebound and 10 assist triple double and Evan Fournier added 29 points.

This was a very fun win for the Thunder as its top two rookies had their best games of the season while another one of its young pieces also had a great game as he turns the other corner of his season. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Josh Giddey makes history, Lu Dort scores 31 in 106-101 loss to Bulls

Josh Giddey once again makes history as being the second-youngest player in NBA history to record a triple double. Who’s in first place you might ask? Well none other than Giddey too!

The Oklahoma City Thunder complete its road back-to-back with a 106-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls. It seems like the Thunder lost a lot of juice in the second half as tired legs took over. The Thunder are currently in a pretty brutal stretch in its schedule where the team hasn’t had more than one day off in over two weeks. So the fact that they were able to only lose to the Bulls, who are one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, by just five points on the second night of back-to-back shows just how well-coached this team is.

Josh Giddey and Lu Dort led the way for the Thunder. Giddey recorded the second-youngest triple-double in NBA history — with him also owning the record for the youngest. For Dort, he finished with 31 points on a career-high 14 free throw attempts.

For the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic each had a 30 piece with the team needing every single one of those points to squeeze by with a win. DeRozan finished with 38 points while Vucevic finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds.

Overall, this was an encouraging performance to see as the Thunder’s young players were able to keep up with a legit playoff contender. This game will go down as a loss but there are a lot of positives to take away from it. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Giddey, Dort lead Thunder to competitive loss against the Warriors, 110-98

Steph & Klay going nuclear and hitting timely threes against OKC, just like the good ole days

The Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Golden State Warriors, 110-98. But make no mistake about it — the final score does not do the Thunder’s effort justice in terms of how close and competitive they kept it for the first 46 minutes of the game.

With 2:36 left to go, a Josh Giddey layup capped off a personal six-point run for the rookie guard that cut the Warriors lead to just five points. Then the Warriors duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson went nuclear from three and went on a 9-2 run to finish the game. Just like old times.

But even with the loss, the Thunder deserve a ton of credit for making this game interesting for the full four quarters. The Warriors are a title contender and the Thunder are a rebuilding team missing four of its top six rotation players — which includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. So the fact that they were able to make the Warriors sweat this one out goes to show just how resilient this team is. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Josh Giddey scores career-high in 113-103 loss to Kings

Hey, Josh Giddey was pretty good this game, right?

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s three-game winning streak comes to an end in the hand of the Sacramento Kings, 113-103. With the Thunder missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins, they did relatively well at making this game competitive for the entirety of the game.

Then it appears that the Thunder’s juice run out in the second half and the Kings were able to grow a lead and not give it up. The Thunder were able to make things interesting and cut the deficit to single digits multiple times in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder were not able to get consistent stops and essentially exchanged buckets for most of the quarter. The Thunder missing four of its top six players in minutes per game along with playing on the second night of a road back-to-back probably played a factor in the team losing this game. Now, these aren’t excuses for the team; the Kings earned this win. They are simply reasons as to what caused the Thunder to lose this game.

For the Kings, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes and Maurice Harkless led the way in this win. Haliburton finished with a 13 point and 17 assist double double; Barnes finished with 24 points, five assists and nine rebounds; Harkless had an 18 point and 11 rebound double double.

Overall, the Thunder winning its first three games without Gilgeous-Alexander was a surprising development but Saturday night proved that the team is mortal and can overcome only so many injuries before it starts to negatively impact the team. But give the Thunder credit for making it interesting for the full 48 minutes. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Tre Mann, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey lead Thunder to second straight win over Mavericks, 120-114

Tre Mann scored 29 points, Lu Dort scored 30 points, Josh Giddey almost had a triple double. What more could you ask for in a win?

The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to impress as they won its second consecutive game without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over the Dallas Mavericks, 120-114.

Throughout the week, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and players have preached a collective effort when it comes to overcoming Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence. And so far, two games in, that has been the case. In Wednesday’s case on the road in Dallas, the Thunder were able to escape overtime with a close win against a playoff contender. Lu Dort and Tre Mann led the way in the scoring department as the former scored 30 points while the latter scored 29 points. Josh Giddey, the recent Rookie of the Month winner, also contributed with a near triple-double.

For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic’s 40 point and 10 assist double double was not enough to overcome the Thunder. Jalen Brunson and Reggie Bullock also contributed with 20 points and 23 points respectively.

This was a very encouraging win for the Thunder as it was led by its young players. Gilgeous-Alexander left a massive vacuum of possessions with his absence and Mann really took advantage of all the new scoring opportunities available on the team. Let’s take a look at player grades.