The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to deal with their boogeyman as they lose to the Golden State Warriors for the second time in a week, 141-114.
The Thunder are now 0-8 against the Warriors in the last three seasons.
2.5 games separate both teams in the standings, but several years of experience and a massive talent gap were on full display on Monday.
After the Thunder opened a 37-31 lead following the first quarter, the Warriors blitzed the Thunder in the middle quarters and outscored them 73-48.
Like they’ve been doing for nearly a decade now, the Warriors forced the Thunder to play at their pace and buried them with hot outside shooting that quickly avalanched their lead and made the fourth quarter garbage time.
The Warriors went 56-of-97 (57.7%) from the field and dished out an absurd 43 assists. The Warriors made a season-high 26-of-50 (52%) from three.
Klay Thompson — like he’s done all his career — led the three-point barrage with 42 points on 15-of-22 shooting and 12-of-16 three-point shooting. In two games against the Thunder, Thompson is shooting 18-of-30 (60%) from three.
Some things never change, do they?
“Some of the early (Thompson three-pointers) were on me,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We were betting on our guards kinda pursuing him… If you bring the big up there, it opens up a can of worms in other areas of the game… That’s why they’re a good team. They present dilemmas.”
Outside of Thompson, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins both had awesome nights. Poole finished with 21 points and 12 assists. Wiggins finished with 18 points and held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check.
Off the bench for the Warriors, Donte DiVincenzo also had 14 points and seven assists. JaMychal Green had 12 points. Kevon Looney grabbed 11 rebounds.
If the Warriors continue to play like this, Steph Curry’s extended absence shouldn’t be felt.
Despite the 27-point loss, scoring points wasn’t the problem for the Thunder.
The Thunder went 44-of-91 (48.4%) from the field and 11-of-32 (34.4%) from three. The Thunder also outshot the Warriors from the free-throw line, 21 attempts to seven attempts.
What ultimately lost the Thunder the game was the three-ball. A 45-point disadvantage from threes will do that to you.
The Thunder weren’t able to stop the Warriors’ infamous third-quarter runs, as they were outscored 44-26 in that period. The Warriors shot 9-of-15 from three during that span and the Thunder didn’t have the offensive ammo to keep up.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: C-
It seems like the Warriors know how to defend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander well — which is something the rest of the league has had trouble doing this season.
On Monday, Gilgeous-Alexander was limited to 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting and four assists. From the free-throw line, he went 8-of-8.
In last week’s game, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points but it came on 10-of-24 shooting.
The usually efficient Gilgeous-Alexander went just 5-of-13 inside of the paint. Following the first quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander was held to just 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting the rest of the way.
Giddey to Shai backdoor action! 🚪 pic.twitter.com/bZGHuf3FtU
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 7, 2023
FILTHY dime from Shai 👀@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/fEZVTEjKXR
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 7, 2023
Josh Giddey: C+
The box score stats showed that Josh Giddey had a sneakily good game, but his impact on the court was not really felt — along with the rest of the Thunder.
Giddey finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, eight assists and seven rebounds. Giddey was also a negative-20 in 29 minutes and turned the ball over four times. 13 of Giddey’s 15 points came in the second half.
Giddey threads the needle to J-Will for 2️⃣
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/ISGCkQ6Ih8
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 7, 2023
Aaron Wiggins: A
One of the few bright spots of this lopsided loss was Aaron Wiggins’s efficient night.
In his 11th start of the season and fourth in the last five games, Wiggins scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 shooting from three.
While the two made three-pointers is something new and rare for Wiggins, the 6-of-7 shooting inside the paint isn’t. Wiggins continues to make it a good habit of cutting basket at opportune times and helping boost the assist numbers of his teammates.
“He’s got a really good floor game. Really predictable player,” Daigneault said. “You know exactly what you’re getting. Consistent player.”
Powering into the lane 💨 pic.twitter.com/4ELtkYDUvo
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 7, 2023
Tre Mann: B-
Off the bench, Tre Mann started the game off well with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting in the first half.
Overall, Mann finished with 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 2-of-6 from three. While the 18 points are cool, I was more encouraged with the 17 shot attempts in 25 minutes.
Confidence has been an issue for Mann all season long, so this game was a nice outing for him despite the loss and the 18 inefficient points.
“I give him a lot of credit,” Daigneault said. “I don’t think the season has gone the way he imagined coming in… At the end of the day, he’s fighting right now and doing so the right way… When a guy is resilient and fights through the ups and downs of their season and of their career, we try to reward that.”
Create a lil space Tre 👀 pic.twitter.com/WR0vSH5bRe
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 7, 2023
Tre knocks down his second tre of the night! 💦 pic.twitter.com/oZmTwEdBeR
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 7, 2023
