For the second time in as many games, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was tasked with taking a game-winning shot.
He couldn’t get it to fall on Monday, as the defense of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert forced the third-year player into an awkward angle for a layup and the ball bounced off the rim. The Thunder couldn’t pull off the upset and lost 110-109.
“This is the reality of a competitive league,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I really was pleased with how our team competed. We competed all the way through for 48 minutes, and when you do that against a good team like Utah, it can go either way.”
It was Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell who hit the deciding factor, a layup created when he absorbed contact from defender Lu Dort as he drove to the rim and finished with 7.0 seconds to play. Mitchell scored Utah’s final 12 points and finished with 20 total.
Dort scored a game-high 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting with five made 3-pointers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points and seven assists.
Here are four takeaways from the game.