Playing on the second night of a home-and-road back-to-back, the Oklahoma City Thunder were not able to steal a road game against a well-rested Orlando Magic, 126-115.
With the Thunder getting smaller after every injury, the gigantic Magic were able to take advantage of their significant size. This was evident in the boards and paint points department. The Magic outrebounded the Thunder, 49-36. The Magic also outscored the Thunder in the paint, 48-30.
The Thunder could not overcome their size difference with hot outside shooting because the Magic were equally on fire from 3. The Thunder shot 15-of-37 (40.5%) from 3, but the Magic shot 13-of-33 (39.4%) from 3.
The Thunder made a run in the third quarter as they outscored the Magic, 35-23, and cut their lead to as little as seven points. The Magic counterpunched and squashed any hope of a comeback attempt with a 31-27 advantage in the fourth quarter.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlined the game, scoring 33 points a day after battling sickness.
Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his scoring at the free-throw line with a 17-of-18 night. This highlighted huge free-throw numbers for both teams as the Thunder went 28-of-31 (90.3%) and the Magic went 29-of-36 (80.6%) from the charity stripe.
For the Magic, Paolo Banchero continues to improve his rookie of the year odds with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Banchero used his massive 6-foot-10, 250-pound frame to bully the Thunder inside. Wendell Carter Jr. continues to own the Thunder with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
A day after turning in their most impressive performance of the season, it’s only normal the Thunder would lay an egg in Orlando. While it will not publicly be said, you have to wonder how much travel fatigue factored into this lackadaisical performance.
Playing back-to-back’s are rough as it is, but that was especially the case for the Thunder this time around.
The Thunder played a 7 p.m. CT game on Tuesday night and immediately after the game flew to Florida, where they didn’t arrive until after 2 a.m. CT. Then the Thunder had a quick turnaround a played an earlier-than-usual game for them at 6 p.m. CT.
Just reading all that exhausted me. I can only imagine what experiencing it must’ve felt like.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch in Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics.
After going through a pregame shootaround session, Gilgeous-Alexander did not feel well enough to play and sat out with a non-COVID illness.
Usually, most people take a couple of days to get over a sickness. Less than a day later, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points in 35 minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot just 8-of-18 from the field, but a 17-of-18 night from the free-throw line kept him busy and helped him add to his point total. This tied a career high for makes and attempts.
Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his damage in the second half, as he scored 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.
The 24-year-old continues to be great for the Thunder. It is pretty funny that the Thunder had arguably their best offensive performance in franchise history without him though.
What an ABSURD move from Shai 🥶@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/g0kshsOwub
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 5, 2023
Shai had Gary Harris a little lost 😅
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/HLugPCNCcc
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 5, 2023
Josh Giddey: B-minus
Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, the rest of the Thunder roster had relatively quiet nights.
His backcourt partner Josh Giddey finished with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting and 2-of-7 from three to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
While it was a quiet game for Giddey, he had the highlight of the game with a full-court pass that saw him zip the ball to Kenrich Williams’ catching radius.
Williams was not able to fully catch it and had to quickly dish to Lu Dort on the left wing. Dort swished the shot to make sure Giddey’s impressive QB skills didn’t go in vain.
Who said passing can’t be fun?
FULL-COURT QB PASS FROM GIDDEY 🤯@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/hOuHacuh2v
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 5, 2023
Playing off one another!
The hard work makes it all work.
Vote Thunder: https://t.co/2FFNkzy5oU pic.twitter.com/yMBMrxKEF9
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 5, 2023
Giddey slips a dime down to KRich pic.twitter.com/55Vs4Adt3o
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 5, 2023
That was too nice, Josh 😳
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/HcX90eg7bK
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 5, 2023
Isaiah Joe: A-minus
Isaiah Joe continues to be one of the bigger surprises on the Thunder this season. He finished with 13 points on 3-of-6 outside shooting and 4-of-5 free-throw shooting.
Joe was part of a fun small-ball lineup that featured Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Tre Mann, Lindy Waters III and Mike Muscala.
From the 4:48 mark of the third quarter to the 9:42 mark of the fourth quarter, the Thunder outscored the Magic, 22-15, with this small lineup on the floor.
With the Thunder playing without Jaylin Williams for most of the second half due to a left ankle sprain, head coach Mark Daigneault needed to get creative with his lineups. He was essentially without a true forward or center.
Lindy swats it ➡️ Zai drains it 💦@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/HT9rbcIQHg
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 5, 2023
Kenrich Williams: B-minus
Kenrich Williams had a weird game that reflected his box score.
Williams finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and nine rebounds. But Williams only played 20 minutes due to five fouls, and the Thunder were outscored by 14 points when he was on the floor — tied for the second-worst plus-minus on the team with Lu Dort.
If the Thunder miss Williams for additional time, Kenrich Williams might get the starting nod until he returns.
