It took 20 games but the Oklahoma City Thunder finally suffered their first blowout loss of the season. Against the fellow rebuilding and second-worst record in the league Houston Rockets of all teams!
This league can be comedic at times.
In a game that saw Jalen Green almost singlehandedly make more three-pointers than the entire Thunder team, it just wasn’t the latter’s night. The Rockets quickly open the game with a 14-4 lead as first quarters continue to be an issue for the Thunder.
This time around though, the Thunder had no comeback magic.
By halftime, the deficit was 21 points. By the fourth quarter, it remained at 21 points. The best third-quarter team in the league wasn’t able to make things interesting.
Outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, nobody had it going with scoring the ball for the Thunder. Only two other Thunder players scored at least 15 points; on the Rockets, five players reached that mark.
The Rockets offense was as Houston summer weather from outside. The Rockets shot 18-of-36 (50 percent) from three while the Thunder shot 10-of-44 (22.7 percent) from three. A 24-point difference in a 13-point loss.
The Rockets were led by Green, who finished with 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting and went 6-of-9 from three. Alperen Sengun finished with 21 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists. Jabari Smith Jr. had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kevin Porter Jr. scored 16 points.
A very good game for their young core as all the important pieces had standout games.
Overall, this was just an uncharacteristically bad game by the Thunder. While they’re 8-12, they’ve shown the ability to stay in all of their games this season and make the fourth quarter at least watchable.
That was not the case on Saturday. Nonetheless, stinkers like these tend to pop up in an 82-game schedule and that’s likely the case with this game. All the Thunder can do now is lick their wounds and move on to the next game.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
Despite the lopsided loss, Gilgeous-Alexander continues to be awesome.
In 28 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting. This is Gilgeous-Alexander’s 14th 30-point performance in 19 games this season, which leads the league.
Gilgeous-Alexander was able to score efficiently inside against the 28th-ranked defensive rating team and made easy work in the paint.
On a historical note, this game also marked Gilgeous-Alexander surpassing 5,000 career points. With how he’s played, there’s a good chance he surpasses the 6,000 point mark later this season too.
SGA finds JDub in the paint pic.twitter.com/W4mx6KTwzY
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 27, 2022
SGA pickpocket to tie things up pic.twitter.com/81Q09bYUgB
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 27, 2022
Active hands lead to the steal and score 👌 pic.twitter.com/yiOmcUc1O3
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 27, 2022
5K for SGA! 🔥
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSUCdf@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/gb4DhwOkAa
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 27, 2022
Signature Stop-N-Score from Shai 👏
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSUCdf@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/eK00yKWmGk
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 27, 2022
Josh Giddey: C
Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey was really the only other Thunder player to have a notable game.
Giddey finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and five rebounds. Turnovers continue to be a problem for him as he forked the ball over four times.
Despite the raw field goal percentage, shooting continues to be a problem for Giddey — which was highlighted from the free-throw line as he went 4-of-7.
Despite the decent stat-line, Giddey had the worst plus-minus among the starters as the Thunder were outscored by 26 points in his 28 minutes. This was easily the worst plus-minus on the Thunder tonight.
While using plus-minus as a barometer for an individual’s performance is faulty because they can’t control how their four teammates perform, it’s still not a good sign to see the Thunder struggle so much against one of the worst teams in the league when Giddey was on the floor.
Easy money from Josh Giddey 💰@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/c6YRHM6VZk
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 27, 2022
Jalen Williams: D
This was not Jalen Williams’ best game.
After receiving his second consecutive start, Williams struggled to make an impact as he scored 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists but turned it over three times.
All of Williams’ makes came near the rim. Williams also missed all five of his jump shots as well.
While he’s great at driving to the basket and finishing around it, the jumper needs to start falling more frequently. On the season, Williams is a 30 percent three-point shooter.
Aaron Wiggins: C+
Good job on Aaron Wiggins for taking advantage of garbage time and padding his stats a bit.
Wiggins scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided. On the night, Wiggins finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and went 3-of-6 from three.
After not playing the last two games, Wiggins was able to work in 23 minutes in the loss tonight.
Wiggs adds a triple 👌@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/soBKICsLWr
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 27, 2022
