The Oklahoma City Thunder will continue to search for its first win in nearly two weeks as the team falls to the Charlotte Hornets, 134-116.
After a hot start in the first quarter where the team scored 41 points and led by as much as 18 points, the Hornets were able to take control for the rest of the game and outscore the Thunder 105-75 in the remaining three quarters. This game continues the trend of the Thunder’s once top defense regressing to one of the worst in the league due to injuries.
Entering this game, since the All-Star break, the Thunder have the 29th ranked defensive rating at 121.3. Just for comparison reasons, the Thunder had the eighth-best defensive rating at 108.6 before the All-Star break.
The Hornets were able to swing this game their way with its outside shooting, as they shot 20-of-35 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc. The Hornets entered the game as a top-five team in the league in terms of three-pointers made per game.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to play like one of the best players in the league recently as he collected his eighth game of at least 30 points in his last 10 contests. Darius Bazley also followed up a career night with another 20-point performance.
For the Hornets, Terry Rozier led the team in scoring with 30 points. Miles Bridges also finished with 27 points and LaMelo Ball had an 21 point and seven assists performance.
Overall, the defensive slippage in recent weeks was not more evident than it was in this game as the Hornets were able to score 102 points in three quarters with ease. The Thunder simply do not have the offensive firepower to keep up with that type of scoring currently — even with Gilgeous-Alexander being a nuclear scorer in recent weeks. Let’ take a look at player grades.
