Tag: Oklahoma City Thunder

Thunder set to face Paul George, Clippers on Monday night

Oklahoma City will face the Los Angeles Clippers for the first time since their blockbuster trade in July.

The Thunder may have won five of their last seven matchups against the Los Angeles Clippers, but this Clippers team isn’t the one of years past.

Stating the obvious: Oklahoma City is facing their former star Paul George for the first time since George asked to be dealt to the Clippers in July. George is coming off surgery on both his shoulders in the off-season and missed the first 11 games of the regular season.

But he scored 37 in the Clippers’ win over Atlanta Saturday, and quite frankly, the Thunder know what they’re up against in Paul George.

George and Kawhi Leonard have yet to take the court together. Leonard has missed the last two games due to a knee contusion, but ESPN referenced a quote Doc Rivers gave the (Los Angeles) Times saying that Leonard will “most likely” play against the Thunder.

Oklahoma City comes into Monday’s matchup off of one of their, if not the, best games of the year, an overtime win over the 76ers in which Danilo Gallinari, Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Terrance Ferguson all scored in double-digits.

Oklahoma City’s free-throw shooting, which has been spotty during the best of times and outright atrocious at others, was fantastic. Gallinari and Paul were perfect from the line and as a team, the Thunder made over 85% of their attempts.

Defensively, OKC has been solid. Per the Thunder game notes, “currently holds opponents to the fourth-lowest three-point shooting percentage (31.2 percent), the second-fewest fast break points (10.7), the eighth-fewest second-chance points (12.0) and the ninth-fewest points per game (107.1) among all NBA teams.”

But solid may not be enough against the Clippers. Defensively lapses could be more of an issue than usual for the Thunder, especially if Leonard finds his way back onto the floor on Monday night.

Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. CT.

Rivers calls Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ‘the greatest kid’ as former Clippers guard returns to L.A. with Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s former coach spoke highly of the former Clippers guard ahead of the team’s matchup against Oklahoma City Monday.

Doc Rivers has nothing but good things to say about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

On Monday, the former Clippers guard returns to Los Angeles to face the organization that traded him away.

Make no mistake, the blockbuster deal that sent Paul George to L.A. for Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and a boatload of draft picks, so far seems to be working out for both parties. The Clippers landed both George and Kawhi Leonard (even if the two have yet to share the court) and George has looked dominate after returning from off-season shoulder surgery.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, Gilgeous-Alexander is the team’s leading scorer and heir-apparent at point guard.

It took a lot to part with George, and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers told media this week he knew what he was giving up in SGA.

“He’s the greatest kid,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of Gilgeous-Alexander this week. “I don’t know if I’ve had a more favorite young player, like, he’s the best. Just still innocent enough, you know, hopefully that stays.”

According to Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, those sentiments were echoed by Gilgeous-Alexander’s former teammates as well.

“Everybody loved Shai,” former Clipper and current Hawks guard Tyrone Wallace said. “It was one of those things, I think a lot of fans were kind of upset (that he was traded). And all that type of thing, but I get it’s a business, and that’s how it happens.”

Danilo Gallinari, who has also been a solid addition to the Thunder in the trade for Paul George, played with SGA during his rooking season and, per Lee, has seen tremendous growth in year two.

“It’s been amazing to me being able to see him every day since last year getting better game by game,” Gallinari said, “and all the strides that he made this year is pretty amazing.”

Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will take on George and the Clippers Monday night. Tip-off is at 9:30 C.T.

Thunder recall Deonte Burton from OKC Blue

A day after reassigning Burton to their G League affiliate, Oklahoma City has recalled Deonte Burton from the OKC Blue.

More movement between the Oklahoma City Thunder and their G League affiliate, the OKC Blue on Sunday.

Deonte Burton, who was assigned to the OKC Blue Saturday, was recalled by the Thunder on Sunday afternoon.

Burton made his first appearance for the Blue Saturday night against the Winchester Knicks. In the starting rotation, Burton played 28 minutes, helping OKC to a 130-114 win.

He scored 16 points, hitting on six of his 15 attempts from the field, including a 2-for-5 mark from the three-point line. Burton also pulled down six rebounds to go along with three assists.

Burton has appeared in five games during the regular season for the Thunder.

He’s averaging 3.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game. In those games, Burton is shooting 50% from the field.

The Thunder went to the West Coast Sunday ahead of their two-game road trip in Los Angeles. Oklahoma City will face off against their former teammate Paul George and the Clippers Monday night before taking on the Lakers Tuesday.

Three takeaways from Thunder’s 127-119 OT win over Philadelphia

Against the 76ers, Terrance Ferguson scored a season-high 19, the Thunder struggled in the third quarter and OKC hit their free throws.

Oklahoma City beat the 76ers 127-119 in overtime Friday night. It was the Thunder’s first overtime game of the season and a solid win before heading out to the West Coast for a two-game set in Los Angeles against the Clippers and the Lakers.

Here are three takeaways from OKC’s win over Philadelphia:

 

Terrance Ferguson showed out

After missing Tuesday’s loss at Indiana due to personal reasons, Ferguson returned to the starting lineup against Philadelphia.

He scored a season-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including hitting on five of his seven attempts from beyond the arc. Ferguson had only hit five three-pointers combined in the previous seven games.

After the game, he credited his daughter and Steven Adams for his success.

 

The Thunder’s third-quarter struggles continue

As noted by Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City’s “trend of falling behind” in the third quarter continued once again Friday night against the 76ers.

The Thunder took a 54-59 lead into the half, only to be outscored 34-26 in the third quarter.

Their struggles continued until the 7:20 mark of the 4th quarter when OKC trailed by nine points. From there, the Thunder closed the game on a 22-13 run to end regulation tied at 107.

 

Free throw shooting helped seal the victory

The Thunder aren’t known as automatic from the free-throw line. Far from it.

But when it mattered against Philadelphia, OKC knocked them down.

Oklahoma City was 8-for-8 in overtime from the line. Danilo Gallinari hit all four of his attempts, with both Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making a pair each.

Both Gallinari (11-for-11) and Paul (12-for-12) were perfect on the night. Per the Thunder, it’s the first time in the organization’s history that two players were perfect from the free-throw line with more than ten attempts each.

As a team, the Thunder shot 85.7% from the line, connecting on 35-of-41 free throws.

Ferguson credits daughter for season-high 19 points against Philadelphia

Ferguson said it was his daughter’s first home game, calling his performance in the win over Philadelphia “one for the books”.

Terrance Ferguson scored a season-high 19 points in the Thunder’s 127-119 overtime win over Philadelphia Friday night.

His performance alone was something to be excited about, but there was one thing that made it even more special – his daughter was there to see it.

Ferguson told reporters in the locker room afterward that it was his daughter’s first home game.

“It was my daughter’s first home game, so I was excited for that,” Ferguson said. “One for the books.”

Back in the starting lineup against the 76ers, Ferguson scored 19 points and hit on seven of his nine field-goal attempts, including a 5-of-7 mark from the three-point line.

As noted by Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, prior to the win over the 76ers, Ferguson “made only five 3-pointers in his last seven games.”

According to Mussatto, Ferguson also credited his big night to Steven Adams.

“It was Steve-O as well,” he said of Thunder center Steven Adams. “Every time I caught the ball, Steve-O was like, ‘shoot it.’ I don’t have no choice but to shoot it when Steve-O tells me to.”

Ferguson missed Tuesday’s 111-85 loss to the Pacers for personal reasons as he did not travel with the Thunder to Indiana due to a custody hearing regarding his daughter.

Oklahoma City outlasts 76ers 127-119 in overtime

The Thunder outscored Philadelphia 20-12 in overtime, hitting 5-of-7 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Like many of their games so far this season, the Thunder were in it at the end.

Unlike most of those games, however, on Friday night Oklahoma City outlasted the 76ers 127-119 in overtime to get the win.

The bulk of the scoring came from the starting rotation, led by Danilo Gallinari with a team-high 28.

Three other players were in double-digits: Chris Paul with 27, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander with 24, and Terrance Ferguson, who returned to the starting lineup Friday, adding 19.

Gallinari had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but his jumper from the top of the key was off the mark. He made up for it by scoring seven of the Thunder’s 20 points in overtime.

Oklahoma City hit five of their seven shots in OT and were a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.

For the game, OKC shot 53.9% from the field and outscored the 76ers 35 to 15 at the free-throw line.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attributes humbleness to his mom’s teachings

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had a quality start to his second NBA season.

In a season that’s still young, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as one of the NBA’s top young players.

Gilgeous-Alexander averages 20.1 points a game and leads the Thunder in scoring. He’s second on the team in rebounds behind Steven Adams, and he’s also one of the Thunder’s best 3-point shooters; he’s shooting 40.4% from the 3-point line.

But through all of his success, Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t been arrogant. According to a story from The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto, Gilgeous-Alexander attributes his humbleness to his mother, Charmaine Gilgeous.

Gilgeous was an Olympic sprinter, and she competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Here’s what Gilgeous-Alexander said about what his mom taught him:

“Growing up, with anything we did, she never let us get cocky,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his mom. “She always told us and showed us to have confidence in ourselves, but never take it overboard. Keep it as confidence.”

Gilgeous-Alexander has taken a leap so far this season. A rookie with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, Gilgeous-Alexander was traded to OKC in the Paul George deal.

Last season, he didn’t take nearly as many shots. Both his field goal attempts and 3-point attempts have gone up. His usage percentage is currently at 25.3%, and last season he finished with an 18.3% usage percentage.

Tied for 25th in the league for points per game, Gilgeous-Alexander is one of three second-year players ranked in the top 25 of the league for scoring, according to NBA.com. Luka Doncic ranks fourth (28.5), and Trae Young ranks seventh (27.3).

With Gilgeous-Alexander being the Thunder’s focal point, he’s primed to continue having a quality sophomore season.

The Thunder will play the Philadelphia 76ers at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday night.

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Justin Patton reassigned to OKC Blue

Two days after being recalled from the OKC Blue, Justin Patton has been reassigned to the Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate.

The back and forth continues for Justin Patton.

Two days after being recalled from the Oklahoma City Blue, Patton has been reassigned to the Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate.

The move was announced by OKC Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti Friday morning.

Patton was signed by the Thunder in August but has played only in one regular-season game for Oklahoma City. He logged six minutes in OKC’s 120-92 route of Golden State at the end of October.

The center has spent the majority of his time with the OKC Blue, where he is averaging 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 4.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals in 23.4 minutes with two starts.

Patton’s best game came in a loss against the Agua Caliente, the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles Clippers, in which he scored 10 points and grabbed six boards.

He has struggled to stay on the court, however, as fouling has been an issue. Patton has fouled out of two straight games.

The OKC Blue returns to action Saturday, November 16th when they host the Winchester Knicks.

NBA Rumors: Sam Presti a candidate in potential Knicks front office overhaul?

Could Sam Presti be a potential candidate for the Knicks if James Dolan decide to make changes in New York’s front office?

Rumors about trades and deals have been swirling around the Oklahoma City Thunder for months, ever since General Manager Sam Presti negotiated deals to send away OKC’s top two stars in Paul George and Russell Westbrook.

It seems no one has been immune to gossip. As it turns out, neither is Presti.

There’s a lot to unpack, but first, as difficult as a rebuild in Oklahoma City could be, at least the Thunder aren’t the New York Knicks.

The saga of James Dolan and David Fizdale continued this week, thanks in part to the Knicks’ 120-102 blowout loss to Chicago. Although they recovered nicely with a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, Fizdale is still considered to be on the hot seat, especially following the team’s previous loss to the Bulls—one in which rookie Coby White outscored the entire Knicks team by himself in the fourth quarter of the contest.

Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News believes that if Dolan moves to fire Fizdale during the regular season, it could also jeopardize the status of those in the front office. Should a scenario unfold where team president Steve Mills or GM Scott Perry be out of a job, one of the names reportedly being tossed around is Presti.

“There is already speculation around the league about potential front office replacements, with two names surfacing most often: Toronto president Masai Ujiri and Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti. Presti (meanwhile) sprouted from the Spurs tree and has served as the Thunder’s GM since 2007. He drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden but has been hamstrung by running a team in one the league’s smallest markets. After 12 years in OKC, it’s easy to envision him being tempted by New York.”

Right now, that’s certainly a lot of speculation. Fizdale, Mills, and Perry are all still employed and other names as potential candidates would likely come up should there be an opening in New York.

But it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable for the Knicks to make a run at Presti, should the opportunity present itself.

Hamidou Diallo questionable for Friday’s game with left knee sprain

According to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, Diallo did not practice Thursday and will be a game-time decision Friday night.

Hamidou Diallo’s availability for Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers is in jeopardy.

Diallo was listed as questionable with a left knee sprain on the NBA injury report released at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

According to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, Diallo did not practice Thursday and “Billy Donovan will update Diallo’s status Friday evening before Oklahoma City’s 7 p.m. tip-off against the 76ers”.

No additional information about how or when Diallo suffered the knee sprain has been made available.

He made his first start of the season Tuesday at Indiana, in place of Terrance Ferguson, who did not make the trip due to a custody hearing.

In the Thunder’s 111-85 loss to Indiana, Diallo scored just two points and took only four shots in 22 minutes of game time.

For the season, Diallo is averaging 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the field.

The start was the fourth of Diallo’s career.