It seems the Oklahoma City Thunder have a bugaboo in FedExForum.
With both teams entering Wednesday on three-game winning streaks, the Thunder had a chance to make a statement win against their young colleagues in the Memphis Grizzlies.
Instead, as has been the case the last few trips to Memphis, the Thunder were never able to gain control. In the end, the Thunder’s record in Memphis fell to 1-4 since the 2020-21 season.
Despite the general feel of the game being a blowout loss, the scoreboard did not reflect this until the fourth quarter. To the Thunder’s credit, they kept it interesting for the first three quarters despite offensive problems.
Three-point shooting and free throws were the main reasons they did so. The Thunder shot 20-of-54 (37%) on two-pointers. From 3, they went 14-of-38 (36.8%). At the free-throw line, the Thunder went 20-of-23 (87%).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was responsible for most of the trips. He went 17-of-19 from the free-throw line — both career marks.
The Thunder were unable to get anything going with their short-handed roster. They played without Lu Dort, Kenrich Williams and Ousmane Dieng.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this 21-point loss.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-minus
This is a tough one to grade Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
He scored 26 points despite receiving more defensive attention than usual due to the number of players out. On the other hand, those points came on poor 4-of-14 shooting and five turnovers.
Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his work during game stoppages. He went 17-of-19 from the free-throw line. Both the makes and attempts were career highs.
To the Grizzlies’ credit, they did a good job at limiting Gilgeous-Alexander’s trips in the middle quarters, when he went 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. After going 9-of-10 in the opening 12 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander did not receive as friendly of a whistle until the game was essentially decided in the fourth quarter.
SGA finds a way to drop this one in pic.twitter.com/SyXpPtYtSj
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 8, 2022
Shai is too nice with it 🥶
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/Bmi3FfY5in
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 8, 2022
Shai stays in his bag on a nightly basis 💰@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/AydY0edn4X
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 8, 2022
Eugene Omoruyi: B
The first substitution of the game for the Thunder was an unusual one. Eugene Omoruyi saw his first playing time since Nov. 23 in the first quarter.
With the Thunder short-handed in wings, the two-way player was called upon to provide quality minutes.
In 24 minutes, Omoruyi had a solid showing. He finished with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, five rebounds and three steals. When matched up against Steven Adams, Omoruyi stood his ground.
Considering how much time passed between NBA appearances, Omoruyi was as productive as one could realistic hope.
Gene wanted that one 🔙@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/F93rSlk72H
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 8, 2022
Gene with the active hands to come up with the steal! pic.twitter.com/MfV4gI6zW5
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 8, 2022
Josh Giddey: C-minus
While the 3-point shot was encouraging for Josh Giddey as he went 2-of-3 from outside, the rest of his night was not so positive.
In 27 minutes, Giddey finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting, 10 rebounds and four assists. Giddey was also a negative-23 — the worst plus-minus of the game.
Giddey takes this one the other way ➡️ JRE slams it home pic.twitter.com/hyLG6Svn1S
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 8, 2022
Giddey with ZERO hesitation from deep 😳@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/uOLWnBnigt
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 8, 2022
Josh Giddey for 👌🔥
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/GWa2bGxEYn
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 8, 2022
