As has been the story for the last couple of seasons, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s comeback attempt fell just short.
After trailing by as much as 16 points, the Thunder used a 27-5 third-quarter run to make the game interesting against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the season opener.
Ultimately, the comeback attempt was in vain. The Thunder lost to the Timberwolves, 115-108.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s first NBA game since March was a dominating one: He scored 32 points.
The Timberwolves were led by Rudy Gobert’s 23 points and D’Angelo Russell’s 20 points.
Let’s take a look at player grades from this seven-point loss in the Thunder season opener.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Gilgeous-Alexander’s return from an MCL sprain couldn’t have gone much better.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points on an efficient 12-of-23 shooting that included five assists, six rebounds and three steals. What makes Gilgeous-Alexander’s 32 points even more impressive is he shot 9-of-13 inside the paint against the frontcourt duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Gobert.
Gilgeous-Alexander also went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
I really missed Shai step-backs pic.twitter.com/bv4w8szBzX
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) October 20, 2022
SGA is back.
one of the best drivers in the world. pic.twitter.com/Jw1ivLEaWN
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) October 20, 2022
Josh Giddey: A-minus
Josh Giddey’s sophomore season started well: 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
The 3-point shot was not there for Giddey, who shot 2-of-7 from outside. The 20-year-old also finished with four turnovers and four fouls in 34 minutes.
20/20 Giddey vision@joshgiddey | @shaiglalex pic.twitter.com/DqrT1mPsR2
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2022
.@joshgiddey with the smooth float @ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/aEC9FBpe8F
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2022
Aleksej Pokusevski: B-minus
It’s hard to grade this game out for Aleksej Pokusevski. The final four minutes left a sour note on an otherwise impressive first 19 minutes.
Overall, Pokusevski, who started, finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes. The 20-year-old shot 3-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 in the final four minutes.
With the game still in reach, a mini-fourth quarter stretch saw Pokusevski shoot and miss on four consecutive possessions. The Timberwolves squeezed out the win after the Thunder offense went cold in the final four minutes.
Short memory mindset 👌@aleksejpokusevs | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/CEYL9yf6Km
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2022
