OKLAHOMA CITY — Receiving an inbound pass from Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson sneaked behind a sleepy OKC defense and slammed in a wide-open dunk to put the finishing touches on an overtime classic. OKC almost survived Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence — but alas — lost beyond regulation to Houston.
The short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Houston Rockets in an overtime thriller, 132-126.
“They got off to a great start, we didn’t but to fight ourselves back into it,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about the loss. “If you go down 15-2… You run the risk of really digging a hole and we were able to scrap back in, took a lead at halftime.”
It was an ugly start for the Thunder, who trailed 15-2 after nearly five minutes into the contest. OKC’s offense broke its drought with its first basket nearly six minutes into the first quarter. The Thunder trailed 28-17 following the first frame.
It was a much better offensive frame for OKC in the second quarter as it totaled 33 points. It finally found a rhythm and held Houston to 21 points to erase its deficit and enter halftime with a slight 50-49 lead.
Coming out of the break, the Thunder scored 35 points in the third quarter to enter the final frame holding an 85-80 advantage. Struggling with just two points in 18 minutes, Chet Holmgren fouled out with 8:48 left in the fourth quarter. The seven-foot rookie’s absence was felt as Houston began to mount a comeback.
After the Thunder built a seven-point advantage a little under three minutes into the quarter, the Rockets pulled back within two points.
Both teams proceeded to exchange baskets as neither built a sustainable lead. Trailing 102-101 with 4:47 left, OKC went on an 8-2 run to create a five-point lead with 1:46 left off of a Jalen Williams fadeaway jumper.
After that huge bucket, it felt like the Thunder were on the verge of sneaking off with a close win over the hottest team in the league without their MVP candidate. Instead, Thompson recovered an airball from Dillon Brooks, circled from the baseline to the right elbow and nailed a fadeaway jumper.
Williams turned the ball over on the next possessions and Brooks avenged his missed 3-pointer with an erratic driving layup after nearly turning it over himself. The Rockets forced a pair of misses and passed it out to Jabari Smith Jr. for the transition corner 3-pointer to give Houston a sudden 111-109 lead with 21 seconds left.
The minute-and-a-half sequence flipped a seven-point OKC lead to a one-point disadvantage off of seven straight points from Houston. After Williams failed to convert a physical driving layup, Thompson gave the Thunder slight hope by splitting his free-throw trip following an intentional foul.
Down three points with eight seconds left, Williams received the inbound pass, dribbled his way to the perimeter and knocked down a massive pull-up 3-pointer with Thompson attached to him. The clutch basket tied it up at 112 apiece and forced overtime.
In OT, Brooks — who quickly turned into a villain after an altercation with Josh Giddey — nailed down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minute of the five-minute period. The Thunder scored their first points in overtime over one-and-a-half minutes into the session to cut it to a four-point deficit.
Alas, Smith Jr. hit another killer 3-pointer to push Houston’s lead back to seven points with three minutes left. The Thunder managed to cut it to a three-point game with a little under two minutes left, but Houston kept answering back on the other end and was content with exchanging points for points and milking the clock out.
Jalen Green — who’s gone supernova for the last month — hit a nasty stepback 3-pointer and split a pair of defenders for an acrobatic layup off the glass in back-to-back possessions to push Houston’s lead to five points with 44 seconds left. The third-year guard flirted with 40 points in this close contest.
On the next possession, any hopes of a late comeback died with Thompson’s easy jam as the Thunder allowed 20 points in overtime.
The Thunder shot 49% from the field and went 14-of-38 (36.8%) from 3. They went 18-of-24 from the free-throw line. They dished out 26 assists on 47 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Giddey continues his best stretch of the season with a season-high 31 points and seven rebounds. Williams had 23 points and 10 assists. Isaiah Joe scored 17 points off the bench and had potentially the dunk of the year.
Aaron Wiggins had 16 points and Gordon Hayward had 13 points off the bench. The Thunder’s bench outscored the Rockets’ bench, 58-21.
Meanwhile, the Rockets shot 48% from the field and went 15-of-43 (34.9%) from 3. They shot 17-of-23 from the free-throw line. They dished out 25 assists on 50 baskets. All five Rockets starters scored double-digit points.
“There was high-level shot-making on some plays,” Daigneault said about the Rockets. “I thought there were other plays where we had breakdowns, stuff we can learn from. You can’t score 132 on shot-making. There’s gotta be some bleeding in there and there was. Definitely stuff we can learn from.”
Green led the way for the Rockets with 37 points on 14-of-24 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He shot 7-of-11 from 3. This included 27 points in the second half. After struggling for most of the season, the 22-year-old has been one of the best players in the league for the last month with unconscious shooting.
Thompson — the other young starting Rockets guard — contributed with 25 points and 15 rebounds. The monster performances highlight a strong month for the rookie. Brooks had 20 points and Smith Jr. had 16 points. VanVleet finished with 13 points and six assists.
Considering Gilgeous-Alexander was out and Holmgren missed the final 14 minutes, this was an outstanding showing for OKC. The short-handed Thunder showed out against the red-hot Rockets and played in an overtime classic. Even if it stings them in the standings, they likely already locked down a top-three seed.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Josh Giddey: A-plus
Losing his dribble, Giddey landed on the ground and flicked the ball up for the desperate heave. The ball miraculously went through the basket. One can only laugh. It was that type of night for the 21-year-old.
As the regular season winds down, Giddey has turned into one of the Thunder’s best players. A surprising development considering how much of a down year he’s had for most of the season.
Against the Rockets, he had his best outing yet — topping his last two monster games. In 32 minutes, Giddey finished with 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. He shot 7-of-11 from the free-throw line.
After a slow first half, Giddey scored 25 points in the second half en route to his first 30-point outing of the season.
With Gilgeous-Alexander out, Giddey took advantage of the extra primary ball-handler opportunities. The third-year player enjoyed a busy night inside the paint, shooting 7-of-11. The Rockets had no answer to containing him.
It’s been a surreal stretch for Giddey. The Thunder hope he can continue to build momentum towards the playoffs. If he’s turned the corner, that makes OKC a much more dangerous threat than they already were.
“When you zoom out, look at the bigger picture, we’re a winning team,” Giddey said on his recent turnaround. “I’m in a really, really good place. I got great people around me so that’s just a blip on the radar. You gotta have ebbs and flows as a young player in your career.”
Jalen Williams: A-minus
Hitting on a 3-pointer to send it into overtime, Williams soaked up the extra scoring opportunities with Gilgeous-Alexander out. The clutch time basket will get lost due to the final result, but it showed off how talented of an individual scorer he is to hit that high-leverage shot.
In 38 minutes, Williams finished with 23 points on 9-of-23 shooting, 10 assists and five rebounds. He shot 3-of-10 from 3. A strong second half featured him scoring 16 points.
The 22-year-old’s patent shots didn’t fall at their typical rate in this loss. Regardless, the extra volume from Williams was likely OKC’s best bet of stealing this win. He was their best scorer available.
“The way my competitive spirit is, the three doesn’t really matter,” Williams said on his game-tying 3-pointer. “I think we were just sticking with it the whole game even though we had an awful start. I thought we had good late-game execution to build into that shot.”
Isaiah Joe: A
Accelerating in transition, Joe took off after a single step inside the paint and jammed in a massive one-handed dunk over Jeff Green for what is arguably the dunk of the season. The highlight basket was a shot in the arm for OKC and its crowd after a lethargic start.
Typically known as a 3-point shooter, Joe showed off his athleticism with the jaw-dropping jam. It headlined a massive performance off the bench when OKC needed it.
“In the moment, very exciting, energy is real high,” Joe said about his poster. “But move on real quick, got a game to win. Didn’t hold that much weight after taking the loss… That’s probably my best dunk for sure.”
In 33 minutes, Joe finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, six assists and three rebounds. He shot 4-of-6 from 3. An 11-point first half by Joe helped OKC enter the break with a slight lead.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander and an off night from Holmgren, Cason Wallace and Lu Dort — who combined for 14 points — the Thunder’s bench stepped up and totaled 58 points.
“He just empties the tank and you just gotta respect it,” Daigneault said about Joe. “Every time he goes out there and plays, he’s giving you everything he has. He’s shorter, slighter and yet squeezes every last ounce out of himself. To me, that’s the ultimate mark of a competitor.”
Gordon Hayward: B
Hayward was another bench piece who had a big scoring night. It was a much-needed outing following his worst game yet with the Thunder. The 33-year-old had struggled to make an impact for OKC since his arrival.
Against the Rockets, Hayward had 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, two rebounds and one assist in 22 minutes. He shot a perfect 3-of-3 from 3.
The hesitancy that was previously there when the ball reached him was absent. All three of his outside shots resulted in assists as the veteran wing provided OKC with spacing. Hopefully, this is the start of a more productive slate of games for Hayward.
“I thought he played with some aggression,” Daigneault said about Hayward. “… Just continues to learn what’s going and play with more and more confidence.”
