The return of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after a one-game absence helped the Oklahoma City Thunder earn their first win of the season against an LA Clippers squad that was missing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
The Thunder defeated the Clippers, 108-94.
Ball security won this game for the Thunder. The Clippers turned the ball over 18 times — resulting in the Thunder attempting 27 more field goal attempts. The shooting splits weren’t pretty. The Thunder shot 4-of-30 (13.3%) from three. However, when a team shoots that many more times than the opposition, it creates a lot of room for error.
The Clippers were led by Luke Kennard, who scored 15 points. John Wall added 12 points off the bench.
For the Thunder, the starting backcourt of Gilgeous-Alexander and Tre Mann stood out with 58 combined points. Aaron Wiggins played solidly in his first start of the season, and Lu Dort’s shooting woes worsened.
Let’s take a look at four Thunder player grades from the 14-point win.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
The Thunder looked like a completely different team with their best player healthy and on the floor.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting against his former team. He added eight assists, five rebounds and three steals. The 24-yer-old did most of his damage inside the paint, as he usually does.
After the game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said that Gilgeous-Alexander is doing a great job at playing on the defensive side of the floor too despite carrying such a heavy workload on offense.
Gilgeous-Alexander credited his conditioning for being able to play at a high level on both ends of the floor.
Cookies get rewarded 🍪 pic.twitter.com/szJxNFUP5p
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 26, 2022
SGA’s SHIN IS PARALLEL WITH THE COURT
YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO MOVE LIKE THIS. AN ABSURD ATHLETE pic.twitter.com/Dwo3EBdWx9
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) October 26, 2022
SGA with an absolute LASER to Tre Mann for the open 3.
man pic.twitter.com/nbLJ7e3oT6
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) October 26, 2022
Slowly but surely Shai is adding the mid-range to his game & it’s so pretty.
he’s got 10 points in the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/SXcPjTqVeV
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) October 26, 2022
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander so far this season:
31 points
4.7 rebounds
6.7 assists
1.7 blocks
2.3 steals
49.3% FG
38.5% 3PT
100% FTAll Star numbers.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) October 26, 2022
Tre Mann: A-plus
With Josh Giddey out dealing with an ankle sprain, Tre Mann was given the starting nod and turned in his best performance of the young season.
Mann finished with 25 points on 10-of-24 shooting. As he usually does, Mann was able to score in a variety of ways from both inside and outside.
The fact that Mann took 24 shots is an encouraging sign in itself. It goes to show he is becoming more comfortable with his scoring talent and that he knows if the Thunder wanted to score points tonight, a lot of it would depend on him.
After the game, Mann also emphasized his defense, saying that he knew he needed to play that side of the court as well if he wanted to get minutes when he arrived in Oklahoma City in 2021.
Stop and pop Tre 🪣 pic.twitter.com/DKcLT3qqLZ
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 26, 2022
What a finish!
The Thunder opened the contest up with an 8-0 run! pic.twitter.com/v8Zijj5QbA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 26, 2022
Lu Dort: D-plus
The shooting struggles continue for Lu Dort. He scored four points on 1-of-11 shooting and went 0-of-6 from three. For the season, Dort is shooting 4-of-26 (15.4%) from deep.
After the game, Daigneault said he deserves some of the blame for Dort’s shooting struggles as he pushes his team out of their comfort zone while wanting them to continue to evolve as players. Daigneault was also quick to praise Dort for his defense and pointed out how he was a game-high plus-25 on the court.
While it’s premature to be super concerned with Dort’s shooting splits, it’s still a little disappointing to see him get off to such a cold start. While the shooting numbers are bad, it’s also important to remember it has only been four games, and small sample sizes usually conjure up dramatic numbers.
Dort has been a streaky shooter his entire career, and right now he’s going through a cold spell. This happening at the beginning of the season is just bad luck for him because he doesn’t have the benefit of a larger sample to cushion his season numbers.
Aaron Wiggins: B
In his first start of the season, Aaron Wiggins had a quietly solid night that was overshadowed by his teammates’ performances.
The second-year forward finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“He’s a solid player that I think has a very clear identity,” said Daigneault after the game. “He’s highly effective as a function two-way player.”
With the Thunder having younger talent with better draft pedigree, it’s been easy to forget about Wiggins after he played his way from a two-way spot to a full-time deal last season. This game was a nice reminder that the former 55th-overall pick could develop into a solid piece.
