Tag: Darius Bazley

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault announces Darius Bazley to come off the bench

After starting in 84 consecutive games, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault announces Darius Bazley will come off the bench

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault announced before the team’s game against the LA Clippers that Darius Bazley will be coming off the bench.

Daigneault mentioned that the move is not a permanent decision and it is a fluid situation but says that the decision was not a reactionary one. Daigneault cites that this move could help bring the best out of Bazley — who has been inconsistent on the offensive side of the ball as he has averaged 8.5 on 43.1 effective field goal percentage and 6.3 rebounds in 27 starts this season.

Bazley was informed of the decision this morning by Daigneault and took it surprisingly well as the coach praised his professionalism.

This is a little bit surprising as Bazley has started in 84 consecutive regular-season games before tonight. The third-year player has entered a critical season where his future with the franchise is going to be decided this regular season. The Thunder are wise to leave no stone unturned with Bazley before making a decision this summer on whether or not they will hand him a second contract. It is worth seeing if Bazley’s shooting and scoring ability improve playing against second units more often than starters.

The Thunder will start rookie Aaron Wiggins in his place tonight — who has averaged three points in 10 games this season, which includes two starts.

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The Thunder almost had another 20-point comeback, this time vs. the Bucks

The OKC Thunder cut a 20-point deficit to two but were unable to close it out against the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Not even the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks are safe from the Oklahoma City Thunder comeback attempts.

Midway through the third quarter, Giannis Antetokounmpo checked out of the game with a 16-point Bucks lead. The MVP had just 14 points, but he didn’t need more; Milwaukee was destroying OKC on both ends.

But the Thunder inched back: a Mike Muscala 3 here, a Kenrich Williams corner 3 there, some excellent fourth-quarter defense everywhere. Suddenly, OKC cut a lead that had been as large as 20 all the way down to just two points.

It has been their signature. No lead is completely safe. Antetokounmpo had to play 36 minutes, three more than his season average. The Bucks ended up winning 96-89, but the Oklahoma City Thunder once again struck fear into their opponent, the same way they’ve been doing all season.

It wasn’t through their usual means. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a poor game, shooting 5-for-20 from the field and missing 10 of his 12 3-point attempts. Lu Dort’s streak of 20-plus-point games ended at five.

Even the Bucks’ stat line was unexpected. Antetokounmpo was just 6-for-16 from the field. Yet his line doesn’t tell the story, as the Bucks imploded with him off the court.

Mike Muscala was somehow a plus-14 in the seven-point loss, and Ty Jerome was plus-12 in 15 minutes played.

This game was lost by a few poor stretches, most notably the Bucks’ 13-0 run over the first 3:02 of the game and the stretch in the third quarter in which the deficit reached 20. For most of the night, the Thunder played well. They tended to prevent deficits from ballooning — several times, they cut a 15- or 16-point lead to 10 — and hung around long enough to make things interesting.

Over the final three quarters, the Thunder outscored the Bucks by three points. They only allowed 16 in the fourth quarter, three of which came off intentional fouls.

Head coach Mark Daigneault was not on the sideline, but it was a good performance. OKC held the Bucks to 96. Here are a few key aspects from the matchup:

Lu Dort scores 20 again, but Thunder fall to Heat for 2nd straight loss

On the day Lu Dort was named one of the nominees for Western Conference Player of the Week, he reached the 20-point mark for the fourth game in a row. He was the only Thunder player to do so against the Miami Heat, though, and Oklahoma City suffered …

On the day Lu Dort was named one of the nominees for Western Conference Player of the Week, he reached the 20-point mark for the fourth game in a row.

He was the only Thunder player to do so against the Miami Heat, though, and Oklahoma City suffered a 103-90 loss to one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, yet a team that was shorthanded.

The Thunder’s job seemed easier when Miami stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler were ruled out pregame. Without those two-way anchors on the court, Oklahoma City may be able to create some more points and find more stops on the other end.

That was not the case. Miami’s defense was stellar, aggressively attacking guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and forcing him into one of his worst games since joining OKC. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 10 points on 2-for-11 shooting as the Heat hounded him and prevented him from finding any rhythm.

Guard Tyler Herro took on the load for the Heat in the absence of Butler and Adebayo. He scored 26 points, made five 3-pointers, had seven rebounds and six assists, and recorded a plus-28 on the night.

Here are some takeaways from the game, Oklahoma City’s second loss in a row:

Thunder grades: OKC win streak ended at 4 by Kevin Durant, Nets

Lu Dort has reached 20 points in three straight games for the first time in his career, but the Thunder’s four-game win streak was put to an end by the Nets.

The Oklahoma City Thunder played a very strong first quarter and caused a minor headache in the fourth, but the Brooklyn Nets did something that OKC’s last four opponents had not: They held on and closed out the Thunder.

Nets guard Patty Mills made nine 3-pointers and forward Kevin Durant scored 33 as Brooklyn beat Oklahoma City 120-96 on Sunday.

The Thunder kept pace with the Nets through the first 11 minutes before a mini-spurt by the Nets at the end of the first quarter put them up 30-25. Brooklyn built upon that in the second and third quarter as OKC struggled to make shots, particularly from behind the arc.

The Nets’ lead was built to 20 in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City’s bench went on a 17-7 run over about four-and-a-half minutes to force Durant, Mills and Blake Griffin to come back in with 5:46 to play.

That was apparently much to their chagrin, as Durant made the next four points, Mills hit a pair of 3s, and the Nets outscored the Thunder 19-5 from the time that substitution was made until the end of the game.

That ended the Thunder’s four-game winning streak and sinks them to two games below .500.

Here are some grades from OKC’s performance.

With their 4th win in a row, the Thunder are in play-in position

So much for those early-season criticisms. The Thunder are now on a four-game winning streak and are in 10th place in the Western Conference.

Like the brand-new jerseys the Oklahoma City Thunder donned on Friday night, this OKC team looks unrecognizable to the league that thought they would be pushovers in the 2021-22 campaign.

The 105-103 comeback victory topped off by a Lu Dort steal and layup that won the game puts the Thunder on a four-game winning streak. With victories over the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and now the Sacramento Kings, the Thunder are outplaying expectations set by those around the league.

On Friday, the Thunder overcame an 18-point deficit, the fourth time they’ve come back from trailing by more than 15 this season. In doing so, they inched closer to a .500 record. Now at 5-6 on the season, Oklahoma City is in 10th place, good for a play-in spot in the early junctures of the year.

Their wins haven’t been against teams that are tanking. Two of the victories were against the Lakers, who entered the year among Western Conference favorites but have struggled to get going, particularly without LeBron James on the court. It’s hard to say the Spurs are good this year, but as long as coach Gregg Popovich is at the helm, they’ll put up a fight. The Kings are hoping for their first playoff appearance in 15 years. The Pelicans — well, OK, the Pelicans are bad and were missing their two stars, but this was supposed to be a good season for them.

Against Sacramento on Friday night, Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points apiece and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl tied Serge Ibaka’s Thunder rookie record with 14 rebounds in a game.

Off the bench, Kenrich Williams was a team-high plus-13 in 18 minutes of play. He scored nine points and had five rebounds. Tre Mann came up big with seven fourth-quarter points, including a key 3-pointer that gave the Thunder a lead. He finished with 12 points total.

Darius Bazley was very efficient, as he made six of his eight shots and went 2-for-3 from behind the arc. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

With similar shooting percentages between the two teams, Oklahoma City’s four extra shots and four extra made field goals were difference-makers.

All in all, the game followed a similar trend to what we have seen in this recent stretch: The Thunder struggled to score in the first quarter (16 points), found their way in quarter two (32 points), picked it up in the third (outscored the Spurs by 5) and then iced the game late (Thunder outscored San Antonio 28-17 in the fourth).

Oklahoma City got enough from enough key contributors and then looked to its best players when it mattered most. Dort was the one to pick them on Friday, as Gilgeous-Alexander had a solid 22 points but shot just 9-for-24 from the field.

Heading into a back-to-back against the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat, it was a good win and confidence builder to close out this stretch against Western Conference opponents.

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Darius Bazley soared to put in this put-back dunk in win over Spurs

Darius Bazley was nearly head-level with the rim when he soared in for this put-back dunk in the Thunder’s win over the Spurs.

Darius Bazley has been more aggressive than ever at the rim, attempting dunks at a high frequency and not being afraid to get contact at the hoop.

On some days, it shines more than others. He had one of the best highlights of his young season in the 99-94 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, when he leapt up for a tip-in dunk and nearly got his head to rim level before slamming it home.

Leading by just two points with six minutes left in the game, Kenrich Williams spotted up for a 3. It bounced off the rim, but Bazley had his sensors locked on the target.

Bazley scored five straight points for the Thunder, helping them take back the lead in the quarter, a lead that would stick.

Overall, he had a very nice game, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. He recorded four assists, a season-high.

Bazley was plus-12 on the night in the Thunder come-from-behind victory, their second in the last two games.

Quite a few plays from this game stand out as special, and Bazley showing off his hops and his apparent magnet to the ball is among those.

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Thunder player grades: Mike Muscala goes off in OKC win over Spurs

The OKC Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs, marking consecutive victories for the first time since March.

The games that the Oklahoma City Thunder win won’t typically be because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander goes off for 35 points. More often than not, it’ll be because a second or third player plays well enough offensively to complement the star’s talents.

On Sunday, Oklahoma City’s third win of the season, it was veteran big Mike Muscala who provided that spark.

Muscala scored 20 points in 14 minutes of play, and his outburst couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Thunder had fallen behind the San Antonio Spurs by 15 points at the midway point through the second quarter when Muscala got to the line. After missing his first free throw, he made his second. He got back to the line two possessions later and made both. A minute and a half later, he made a 3. Then he made another. Then he made another. Those three 3s came in consecutive possessions.

At that point, he had 13 Thunder points in a row and 14 of the team’s last 15. It helped the team cut the deficit to 10 at the half.

He finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 5-for-6 shooting with three 3s, but his impact when beyond the scoring. Muscala’s defense was good. He had a couple very strong possessions in which he made life difficult or forced a turnover. He was in place for a couple key rebounds, including the one that essentially iced the game after Spurs guard Lonnie Walker IV missed a 3 with about five seconds left that would have tied the game.

Muscala is playing the clutch, late-game minutes for the Thunder for a reason. Despite being less of a priority this past offseason than which young players the team could acquire, he has been playing very good basketball and has been one of OKC’s best players.

In this 99-94 victory, fittingly topped off by Muscala’s free throw — he was 7-for-9 overall from the stripe on Sunday — the veteran was the best Thunder player on the court.

He receives an A+ grade. Here are other grades from the Thunder’s performance:

After 2 good games, what went wrong for Thunder in loss to Warriors?

The Thunder must find ways to generate points when Plan A isn’t falling.

After back-to-back very good games, the Oklahoma City Thunder reverted to a stagnant offense in the 103-82 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had posted at least 27 points in three straight games, scored just 15 on 6-for-14 shooting. Darius Bazley had five points and missed all five 3-pointers he attempted. Kenrich Williams was 0-for-7 off the bench and Mike Muscala made one shot in 14 minutes.

Oklahoma City shot 35.8% from the field and 20.5% from deep.

But here’s the thing — it wasn’t because the Thunder were forced into poor shots. Many of the shots were good. They weren’t falling. And that is something head coach Mark Daigneault must teachhis players.

“We normally shoot a higher percentage than that with the quality of shots we got,” Daigneualt said. “I think the lesson there is when it’s not falling, we gotta find, like, grimier ways to try to generate points. We gotta hit paint the paint more, we gotta get to the line more. Sometimes you just have to kind of grind out offense.”

Basically, adjust and deviate from the game plan when the game plan is not working. If Bazley, for instance, is 0-for-4 on 3s, gets a defensive rebound and brings the ball up court himself, he should not take a 3-point shot eight seconds into the shot clock, even if he is open. He must have the wherewithal to look at the court and find a driving lane or a teammate who will be open.

Ty Jerome played 19 minutes, a season-high spurned by A) the blowout and B) Tre Mann’s assignment to the G league. Jerome went 3-for-7 and made two 3s.

“W missed a lot of good looks that we normally make,” Jerome said. “I don’t think we did other stuff well enough, like offensive rebound, drive the ball well, stuff like that.”

One way the Warriors threw the Thunder off their rhythm was with a zone defense. Daigneault said Oklahoma City expected this but was unable to play it properly.

“We let the zone bother us a little bit. They did a good job,” Jerome said. “They bothered us for sure with that zone in the second quarter.”

“We could have done a better job attacking the paint while they were scrambling,” said wing Lu Dort, who had 14 points on 4-for-10 shooting in 30 minutes.

The Thunder scored 20 points in the first quarter, but unlike the Lakers game in which OKC bounced back from a 19-point first quarter, they could not find their footing at any further juncture. The Thunder scored 24 in the second, an unsightly 14 in the third, and then 24 points in the fourth quarter with the benches on the court.

“We didn’t have it tonight offensively from a rhythm standpoint, and then didn’t have the solutions to generate that rhythm,” Daigneault said.

That’s the key word: solutions. Oklahoma City struggles to get its offense going even in normal circumstances, and finding solutions for stagnation is something the team is often missing.

The Thunder had just three offensive rebounds. There isn’t consistency at the center spot. On a positive note, though, they did attempt 21 free throws to Golden State’s eight.

Those solutions — Plan B, Plan C, Plan D when the first plan isn’t working — are essential to making offense churn.

Lakers’ Russell Westbrook explains altercation, his ejection with Darius Bazley vs. Thunder

Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook explained what OKC forward Darius Bazley did that caused his ejection in the closing seconds.

The game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder grew heated for a brief moment in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

After the Lakers had blown its 26-point lead and the Thunder essentially sealed a win, forward Darius Bazley threw down a dunk instead of dribbling out the 1.5 seconds remaining on the clock.

Russell Westbrook ran down Bazley and clearly didn’t like the move, which led to his ejection. After the game, Westbrook explained the altercation.

“How I play the game, I’m more old-school,” Westbrook said. “And when s— like that happens, I don’t let it slide…In the game of basketball, there’s certain things you just don’t do. Like in baseball, you don’t flip the bat. There’s certain things you don’t do in sports when the game’s already over, and I didn’t like it, simple as that.”

This falls into the “unwritten rules” section of sports, but one could say the Lakers, the oldest team in the league, shouldn’t have let the youngest team in the NBA come back down 26 points for its first win of the season.

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Darius Bazley’s bounce-back performance key in Thunder’s win over Lakers

Before the Thunder played the Lakers, Darius Bazley said he needed to improve his game. His performance was key in the OKC comeback win.

Darius Bazley’s answers in press conferences are often short, but his response when asked how he feels about his early-season performances before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers was noticeably quick.

“I got a lot of work to do,” he said, then stopped talking. When no PR team member or reporter jumped into the next question, he added two more words: “That’s it.”

Entering Wednesday, Bazley was averaging just 8.8 points per game. He had made one of the 16 3-pointers he attempted through the first four games, and was averaging fewer rebounds (6.3) than he had as a second-year player (7.2).

He probably didn’t have time for work between that pregame press conference and tipoff, but he looked like a different player against the Lakers on Wednesday.

Bazley recorded 20 points, six rebounds and four steals in the 123-115 win over the Lakers, the Thunder’s first victory of the season.

He made four of the eight 3-pointers he attempted and closed the game with a steal, looking joyous as he dunked the ball and broke an unwritten rule with 1.5 seconds remaining in the game, doing so in such a way that irked Russell Westbrook enough to pick up a second technical foul and be ejected from the contest.

Bazley scored the Thunder’s first eight points of the game, two buckets coming on 3-point attempts and one on a dunk. He was perhaps the lone bright spot for OKC in the first quarter, a 12-minute period of exactly 19 points.

After Oklahoma City fell behind by 26 in the second quarter, Bazley and Josh Giddey hit one 3 apiece to stabilize the Thunder and start them on a comeback that would end up tying the team record for largest comeback win.

Bazley’s fourth quarter was big, but not in the scoring column. He had two assists, blocked an Anthony Davis shot and grabbed a rebound after a clanked Westbrook 3-point attempt with about 24 seconds remaining.

The Thunder can only win when there’s a second player acting as the complement to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and on Wednesday, it was Bazley. The third-year forward’s impact on both sides of the ball helped the Thunder break into the win column and take down a team that has championship aspirations.

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