Scrappy Thunder Earns Win

By Nick Gallo and Paris Lawson | okcthunder.com

Box Score: OKC 118, POR 112

It was far from a Picasso, but it was a gutty, hard-earned win by the Thunder as they faced the Trail Blazers on the final game of its extended four-game road trip out west. The Thunder faced a Blazers team who was without their key starters in Damian Lillard, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkić. Hungry and motivated role players filled their absence and for the fourth time this season, OKC found itself in a late-game, crunch-time battle against Portland. 

It took a gritty defensive effort in the fourth quarter coupled with a few big-time shots by Josh Giddey and Lu Dort to seal off the 118-112 win inside of Moda Center. Resilience and toughness were at the forefront for the Thunder through all four quarters as the team withstood an early barrage of Portland 3-pointers, a slow start to the third quarter and a lengthy zone defense throughout the night.

Three Thunder players scored 20 or more points in the effort including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who racked up a game-high 31 points to go along with 4 steals and 13 made free throws. As a unit, the Thunder also racked up over 20 points off of fast break points, second chances and Portland turnovers. 

Nick: With an early tip off in the fourth game in six nights on the road, the Thunder took a bit to rev up its engines, but it leaned on what travels best to get the job done: defense. Two plays that have defined the Thunder’s defense all season long were energizers in this one. First it was Jaylin Williams stepping in and taking a charge. The Thunder leads the NBA in charges taken this season, and Williams lead the league among individual players. On the next defensive play, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander jumped into the passing lane to make a steal on the wing and went coast to coast for the slam dunk. The Thunder came into the game as the only team to score at least 10 points off turnovers in every game this season, and thanks to plays like that one it reached that mark again well before halftime, finishing with 29 points off of 18 Blazers turnovers in the game. 

Paris: Jalen Williams attacked the middle of the lane, took on contact and finished the basket for an and-one opportunity. The play marked the third and-one racked up by the Thunder in the first quarter alone against the Blazers. Both Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drew 3-point plays in addition to Williams during the first frame. Force and physicality have been critical elements to the Thunder’s style of play on both ends of the floor and the ability to get downhill, get to the rim and finish a bucket through contact is the perfect example of implementing that level of force. 

Paris: Kevin Knox missed a layup for Portland, and it was Josh Giddey who secured the defensive rebound. Fresh off of his season-high 17 rebound effort, the 6-foot-8 guard continued to demonstrate the value of having your point guard as your leading rebounder. The board sent the Thunder off to the races with Giddey at the head of the snake. Giddey sent a scoop pass to his left where Jalen Williams was sprinting alongside him. The rookie smoothly took a quick bounce before laying the ball in through two defenders. Heading into halftime, the Thunder racked up 14 fast break points and finished the night with 26 overall. 

Nick: Portland’s Nassir Little drove into the middle of the floor to attack the rim but Giddey was there to body him up and make a play on the ball. The initial call on the floor was a foul on Giddey, but Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault quickly challenged, recognizing two crucial details: that Giddey got his hand completely on the ball, and that the ball ended up with Giddey. According to the new replay review rules, the ball goes to whoever has clear possession of it if the play is overturned, and that’s exactly what Daigneault was banking on. After winning the challenge, the ball stayed in Giddey’s sure hands, as he faked a hand off up at the top of the key and sprinted right to the rim for an easy finger roll layup. That sequence ignited a 6-0 start to the quarter, and a 43-25 scoring edge in the period. For the game, Giddey scored 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, adding 11 rebounds, a steal and two blocks.

Nick: The Thunder got knocked back by an 11-0 Blazers run in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but stayed in attack mode for the rest of the period. With continuous downhill attacks, the Thunder drew contact in the paint over and over and got into the bonus with 5:15 remaining. Gilgeous-Alexander was the primary catalyst, which isn’t surprising given that he leads the NBA in drives per game and is second in the NBA in free throws made this season. Racking up eight of his 15 total free throw attempts in the third quarter, Shai helped keep the Thunder in this game as it weathered some hot shooting on the perimeter by Portland. For the game, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 9-of-17 shooting and the Thunder racked up 28 free throw attempts. 

Paris: Jalen Williams rose up and blocked the floater attempt of Shaedon Sharpe that led to a steal for the rookie. The play gave him 127 combined steals and blocks on the season which marks a new Thunder rookie record. Williams also got things done offensively throughout the night – showcasing the various ways he can score the basketball. The rookie finished with a well-rounded statline of 23 points, four assists, five rebounds, two steals on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the 3-point line. 

Paris: Josh Giddey received a ball screen from rookie Jaylin Williams at the top of the key. Williams recognized an opening  and slipped between the two defenders. Without hesitation, Giddey whipped a one handed bounce pass to J-Will that led to a wide-open layup for the rookie. The play was one of several eye-popping pass of the quarter for Giddey – one of which was just a simple inbounds pass to Williams who was wide open under the rim on a baseline out of bounds play. The mixture of high-level and simple passes allowed Giddey to rack up six assists on the night. 

Nick: Leading by just two with under three minutes to go, the Thunder was holding on to the lead by gutting out possessions on both ends, but got a massive boost on a play from its two lead playmakers. Gilgeous-Alexander, who fought through a twisted ankle throughout much of the second half, got to the left elbow and put his defender on his hip. From there he surveyed the defense coming over to pressure him and kicked the ball across the top of the key over to Josh Giddey. Two nights earlier against the Lakers, Giddey had a similar look but missed it. Gilgeous-Alexander got him the shot again, and Giddey stepped into the shot with confidence, burying the right wing three-pointer to give the Thunder just enough breathing room to finish out the win. 

“That's a tough game. We're at the end of a road trip. We've been on the road for a little bit now. Early start time, and then playing against a team that is missing their main guys. These are motivated NBA players that have something to prove, and they know their opportunities aren't endless, so they're gonna bring a lot of juice. We knew that coming in. They didn't disappoint. We gutted it out. We did what we needed to do, especially down the stretch. Strung some stops together late, which was big. I thought our physicality in the last four or five minutes of the game was really, really good.” –Head Coach Mark Daigneault 

“We forced them to take a lot of tough shots. Threes, when they were at the rim, they're all contested shots. So we rebounded really well. I don't think we gave him any second chance points in that fourth quarter. So we limited them to one shot, one tough shot a lot of the time. Then when we went small we could switch one through five and guys were ready to rotate. So our defense was really good down the stretch.” –Josh Giddey

The Thunder returns home to Oklahoma City for a two-game homestand over the course of two nights against Eastern Conference foes. On Tuesday OKC hosts the Charlotte Hornets and on Wednesday the Detroit Pistons come to town.

By Zach Beeker | OKC Thunder