For the first time this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder game on Tuesday was not decided in the final second.
They lost to the Orlando Magic 118-107 and fall to 1-2 on the year. The Magic remain undefeated at 4-0.
Even with the double-digit loss, this was not a bad game for the Thunder. This wasn’t one of those times when garbage time buckets make the scoreboard look respectable. Oklahoma City played well and kept it close, actually tying it with the first basket in the fourth quarter, but ultimately slipped without usual starters Al Horford or George Hill in the lineup.
“There were times where we didn’t compete and we had lack of energy, and things like that is what cost us the game today,” said guard Hamidou Diallo. “All in all we played hard. … It’s just little things that we gotta clean up and get better on to start winning these close games.”
There were multiple times it looked like the Thunder were about to fold, but they continued to put together short bursts to hang in until the final few minutes.
About three minutes before halftime, for instance, the Orlando Magic went up by 10. The Thunder were struggling to make 3s. If they let the lead slide any further, it would blossom into a huge halftime deficit.
That wasn’t the case; OKC cut Orlando’s lead to four by the time the break began.
Midway through the third quarter, the Thunder had a three-play span in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander threw a pass to nobody that went out of bounds, Darius Bazley airballed a 3, and then an alley-oop attempt to Diallo in transition went awry and resulted in another turnover. This was OKC’s worst stretch of play since the closing minutes of the first game of the season, and Orlando extended its lead from three to seven during this time.
But they didn’t fold here, either. It took just a few minutes for the Thunder went on a 9-2 run and tie the game at 80.
In the fourth quarter, they fell behind 101-92, but quick baskets from Gilgeous-Alexander and Justin Jackson put them back within four points.
“There were a couple times where the game could have gotten away from us and we made a play or got a stop,” said head coach Mark Daigneault. “Just didn’t get enough in the fourth.”
In the end, there was not one singular moment in which Oklahoma City collapsed. Orlando would take a lead, the Thunder would inch near it, and then the Magic would put together a run slightly better than the previous OKC burst. It wasn’t that there was one key area the Thunder lost on; they couldn’t keep up the hot 3-point shooting from Monday, they couldn’t stop Nikola Vucevic, and they couldn’t sustain consistent runs.
In other words, they were missing Horford and Hill.
This was the first game this season in which the Thunder didn’t have a chance going into the final minute, but it wasn’t a bad game. This type of game — competitive but not good enough – is likely the type the organization expected when it traded away its veterans to jumpstart a rebuild and can accept now.
“Another competitive night from our guys and a scrappy night, and obviously it just didn’t go our way,” Daigneault said.
Isaiah Roby, who started in place of Horford, was excellent. He had 19 points on 9-12 shooting and seven rebounds in 28 minutes of play. He only appeared in three games last year, but he stretched the floor, used his length and had the play of the night.
Isaiah Roby crosses Vucevic and soars for the dunk.
😱😱😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/soHSpKhPFO
— 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙢𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙃𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙨 (@BoomtownHoops) December 30, 2020
“He played a great game. He was ready,” Diallo said. “That’s really big for you to start and go out there, being in all the reads and all the coverages that we’re in. That’s really tough for him, and he came out there and he showed that he belonged.”
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting and made all three of his 3-pointers. He was efficient on limited shots as the Magic focused the defense on him, often sending multiple defenders his way in an attempt to trap him off pick-and-rolls.
“I expect a lot of that going forward, and I feel like I handled it OK,” he said. “Had a few too many turnovers, but I’m going to watch film and get better from it.”
Lu Dort had 15 points and made three 3s – he is now 9-for-19 from deep on the season – while Diallo and Mike Muscala combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
The best player on the court, though, was Vucevic, who tore the Thunder apart. He posted 28 points on 12-for-18 shooting and made three 3-pointers. He did all that despite only getting to the line one time, which was an and-one opportunity.
Oklahoma City fell, but it was not a bad loss. They got to see players who had yet to take the court this season, saw a type of player in Vucevic they had yet to face, and remained competitive. At this point in the season, competitive is what the organization is asking for.
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