The Oklahoma City Thunder had a chance to send a message to the Detroit Pistons that their young core is the better one. Instead, the only message the Thunder sent is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs his teammates to step up and carry their weight.
After the Thunder led by as many as 16 points, a disastrous second half helped the Pistons defeat the Thunder, 112-103. The Pistons outscored the Thunder in the final two quarters, 64-40.
The story of the game is simple: Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, the rest of the Thunder starters did not perform well.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points, the other four Thunder started combined to score 29 points.
Despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s marvelous play, it took until the fourth quarter for one of his teammates to reach 10 points. Under those circumstances, it’s nearly impossible to win most games unless Gilgeous-Alexander goes nuclear.
For the Pistons, it was a well-balanced attack as six players scored in double-digits.
Cade Cunningham finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Jaden Ivey finished with 15 points, 11 rebound, six assists and three blocks. Saddiq Bey scored a team-high 25 points. Isaiah Stewart finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this nine-point loss.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
This is the easiest one as Gilgeous-Alexander continues to play like one of the best players in the league.
In this game, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks in 38 minutes. Gilgeous-Alexander did not attempt a three-pointer once again this game.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 30-plus points in six of his nine games this season and in 14 of his last 19 games overall.
Gilgeous-Alexander has taken the next step in his development. Now it’s time for other members of the roster to do so as well.
One word. TOUGH 😤 pic.twitter.com/hTPx7GOLGP
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
🅱unnies pic.twitter.com/F1EQRBiLG6
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
Hustle plays are our thing ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/FuKkNU1vAA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
On time, on target 🤝 pic.twitter.com/K32puTvYdq
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
JDub keeps it alive…SGA finishes it. pic.twitter.com/6tGr2KTZnj
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
Josh Giddey: F
This was a flat out awful game for Josh Giddey and it’s been a rough stretch for the second-year guard overall.
Giddey finished with nine points on 4-of-12 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and three turnovers in 25 minutes. Giddey was a minus-12 and did not play the final nine minutes of the game.
Giddey has played timid and it looks like he’s lost some confidence with his shot — missing attempts around the paint that he usually makes in floaters, finger rolls and running layups.
Not playing the final nine minutes in a winnable game is a telling sign that Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault thinks Giddey is currently in a funk. How much longer he’ll be in it is up for him to decide.
Giddey drops off a nice dime for JRE to jam! pic.twitter.com/sX2PhKMtoJ
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
Lu Dort: F
From reading Twitter, the fanbase’s patience is running thin for Lu Dort.
Another lackluster shooting performance certainly does not help with that as he finished with seven points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Dort entered the game shooting 19.6 percent from three on 5.7 three-point attempts. Against the Pistons, Dort went 1-of-6 from outside.
Unlike Giddey, Dort got some fourth-quarter run as he played the final 1:52 but it’s still not an encouraging sign that Daigneault waited that late to sub him back into the game.
Just like with Giddey, when you’re unplayable for most of the fourth quarter of a close game, you deserve an F.
The way we want to start 🔥 pic.twitter.com/69dUu91sxp
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
The veteran wings: A
Now for some positives.
With the Thunder starters struggling, Daigneault had to rely on his veterans Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala and both delivered.
Williams finished with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. Muscala finished with 11 points on 3-of-7 three-point shooting and four rebounds in 15 minutes.
Both were just two of four Thunder players that finished with a positive plus-minus — Williams was a plus-11 while Muscala was a plus-nine.
When the Thunder were making a run in the fourth quarter, it involved both veterans. A big criticism for Daigneault from me was why he didn’t go to his two veterans a lot sooner and played them more often when it was clear most of the young roster sans Gilgeous-Alexander did not have it going.
Nonetheless the reasoning, both players were great and immediately contributed off the bench.
