Hitting the brakes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander managed to create space between himself and Bradley Beal to hit the pivotal stepback 3-pointer to push OKC’s lead to double digits.
The massive 3-pointer served as the exclamation mark in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 111-99 win over the Phoenix Suns.
“I thought we closed really well with great poise,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about the win. “Got a shot up everything. got organized. No organizational turnovers. Just really, really good poise to win on the road.”
In a back-and-forth contest that saw 11 lead changes and 11 ties with neither team leading by more than 12 points, the Thunder got off to a 25-9 run in the fourth quarter to create space on the scoreboard. Overall, OKC outscored Phoenix 31-13 in the critical final frame.
OKC limited Phoenix to 13 fourth-quarter points. The Suns were held without a made bucket for the final 6:42 of the game and shot an abysmal 2-of-21 from the field in the final frame.
“The fourth-quarter defense was outstanding,” Daigneault said. “Obviously made them earn everything.”
The duo of Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams led the Thunder to the much-needed win as they combined for 66 points. Overall, OKC shot 49% from the field and went 10-of-27 (37%) from 3.
Meanwhile, the Suns — who were without Devin Booker with a calf strain — were led by Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Durant had 28 points on 7-of-18 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists. Beal was limited to 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
“KD’s a tough guard,” Williams said on defending Durant. “Obviously, he’s a unique talent. Kinda one-of-one. Just a lot of adjustments in-game. Lu (Dort) did an excellent job on home all game. Trying to just free-flowing, double when you can…
“He’s gonna make tough shots and do what he did but I think we just made it harder for him.”
The Suns shot 38% from the field and went 9-of-29 (31%) from 3. Phoenix managed to frequently get to the free-throw line as it shot 26-of-31 (83.9%).
“He lets us walk through the fire,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on Daigneault’s trust. “Let’s us figure it out. Let’s us play off our feel. We have a lot of guys on our team that can and have a high basketball IQ… He lets us figure it out on our own.”
Off the bench, Drew Eubanks was a surprise contributor with 15 points and five rebounds — four of which were on the offensive boards. This continues to highlight the rebounding problem that grows in OKC. The Suns outrebounded the Thunder by a significant 52-33 margin — this included a 17-6 edge on the offensive boards.
Most of the time, that type of discrepancy on the boards will result in losses. Instead, the Thunder managed to overcome the difference tonight by playing stout defense against a Suns squad missing their best playmaker.
OKC survived its rebounding woes this time around but it continues to be a growing problem that’ll hurt in the long term if it isn’t addressed soon enough.
“I think if we can start limiting teams on the glass, it’s gonna really help our offense,” Josh Giddey said. “It’s been a focal point for the last couple of weeks.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Sharing a court with one of the greatest players ever on the opposing side, Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on the court in OKC’s win.
In 37 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. He went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and 2-of-5 from 3.
Despite the drop in calls, the All-NBA player continues to find ways to rack up his points. This included a massive 14-point fourth quarter to lead the Thunder to an impressive road win.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit a pair of important shots in the final frame as he gave OKC a lead it wouldn’t surrender with a pull-up jumper at the 5:21 mark and the aforementioned stepback 3-pointer to push OKC’s lead to 10 points with three minutes left.
So good we had to show it 2️⃣ times. #ThunderUp @okcthunder 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/CuASrKOkgH
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 13, 2023
Shai coast-to-coast 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hFNhL4mir1
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
SGA the magician 🪄#ThunderUp @okcthunder 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/w5YJVfSS88
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 13, 2023
SGA spins and scores 😵💫@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/Z0UFo8Qo7B
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
Jalen Williams: A-plus
It was quite the homecoming for Williams in the Thunder’s win over the Suns as he turned in his best performance yet of the young season.
In 38 minutes, Williams scored a season-high 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting that included a 6-of-8 night from the free-throw line and 3-of-4 from 3. He conducted a lot of his damage inside of the paint, where he went 7-of-9.
With the Thunder offense struggling in stretches during the second half, Williams bailed OKC out with some efficient shot-making as he scored 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
This included an important and-one to push OKC’s lead to seven points prior to Gilgeous-Alexander’s signature stepback 3.
“He was really good clearly,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about Williams. “He was aggressive. He made the right plays. He was himself. We’re going to continue to see him get better and get in that mood a little more often as he gets comfortable.
“We’re always on him about being more aggressive and he was that tonight.”
Starting off hot in The Valley 🏜️#ThunderUp @okcthunder 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/JKqJ31JjRJ
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 13, 2023
Steal, lob, slam! 💨 💥 pic.twitter.com/nmd5q67Qf7
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
JDub beats the shot clock 🚨 pic.twitter.com/o5yJ7wgPKm
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
Count it 💪 pic.twitter.com/CNvJ5dyZut
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
Chet Holmgren: A-minus
Holmgren was the third man in OKC’s three-man show in this bounce-back win. The rookie seven-footer showed off his offensive skillset against a quality opponent.
In 33 minutes, Holmgren finished with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He went 3-of-6 from 3 and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. He was a game-high plus-27.
Eight of Holmgren’s points came in the fourth quarter as he, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams scored 30 of OKC’s 31 points in the final frame.
Pulling up in transition 🎯 pic.twitter.com/TWiWLmY61M
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
Josh Giddey: B-minus
This is a tough one to grade for Giddey.
On one hand, he finished with 10 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and two blocks. On the other hand, he shot 5-of-12 and committed four costly turnovers.
Beyond the box score numbers, it was evident that Giddey’s struggles continue to occur on the court. A good portion of his shots felt forced and it resulted in some bad misses. There were also occasional defensive lapses that bled points.
The good news is that this was one of Giddey’s best playmaking games of the season. Hopefully, he can build off of that and eventually carry that confidence into other areas of his game.
Nothing like Giddey vision 🔍 pic.twitter.com/kdGj8cimb4
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 13, 2023
