It was a quarter later than usual, but the Golden States Warriors’ inevitable onslaught was too much for the Oklahoma City Thunder to overcome in a 136-125 loss.
After the Thunder capped a 79-69 first half with a Jalen Williams’ 3, the Warriors used a 33-27 third-quarter scoring advantage to cut OKC’s lead to four points.
“I thought we did a really good job at holding them off in the third (quarter),” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We got a little more bogged down offensively but we kept the scoreboard moving enough and kept them kinda in arm’s distance.”
The Thunder couldn’t hold off the Warriors for much longer though; they were outscored, 34-19, in the fourth quarter.
“I thought our competitiveness and our poise was there tonight. I just thought the execution on the defensive end wasn’t great,” Daigneault said. “They guarded us really well in the fourth (quarter) and like I said, deserved credit for the win”
It was a tale of two halves for the Thunder. After outscoring the Warriors, 79-69 in the first half, they were outscored, 67-46, in the second half.
The Thunder led for the first 40 minutes, but the Warriors finished the final 8:30 of the game with a 28-17 run to complete the 15-point comeback win.
It was a high-scoring affair in which the Warriors went 20-of-47 (42.6%) from 3. Overall, the Warriors shot 47-of-95 (49.5%) from the field.
The Warriors’ win was headlined by a pair of 30-point scorers.
Stephen Curry finished with 34 points on 11-of-25 shooting and went 6-of-13 from 3.
Jordan Poole finished with 30 points on 8-of-19 shooting and went 5-of-12 from 3. Poole started in place of Klay Thompson, who was a late scratch due to lower back tightness. Poole led the scoring avalanche for the Warriors in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 points — only one fewer than the Thunder team — in the period.
A late Poole 3 was the decisive play; it increased the Warriors’ lead to 11 points with a little over three minutes remaining. This was part of a personal 7-0 run by Poole that spanned less than a minute.
Draymond Green finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Off the bench, Donte DiVincenzo had 16 points and Moses Moody had 13 points.
Meanwhile, the Thunder didn’t have any problems scoring either. OKC shot 44-of-93 (47.3%) from the field, but went 11-of-32 (34.4%) from 3 — nine fewer made 3s compared to Golden State.
“I thought, offensively, we played with great force,” Daigneault said. “We set a great tone on that end of the floor:125 points on the road is a good number. We deserve credit for that. We went and earned those points tonight.”
Both teams also enjoyed busy nights at the charity stripe. The Thunder shot 26-of-35 (74.3%) from the free-throw line while the Warriors shot 22-of-30 (73.3%).
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another ho-hum 30-point performance with 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Overall, the Thunder had six players score at least 11 points.
The 11-point loss concludes OKC’s season series against the Warriors; it went 1-3. The Warriors finished their home season an impressive 33-8.
The Thunder have lost three consecutive games and are 2-6 in their last eight. Thanks to the Dallas Mavericks also limping to the finish line (1-7), OKC remains in 10th place — the last play-in tournament spot — in the Western Conference. The Thunder lead the 11th-placed Mavericks by half a game. The Thunder have two games remaining; the Mavericks have three.
It looks like it’ll be a tight finish in the remaining days of the season for the Thunder and Mavericks and the last play-in tournament spot. Importantly, the Thunder own the tiebreaker.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
With the Thunder desperately needing a win, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up and played like arguably the best player on a court with several future Hall-of-Famers.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting and went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He had seven assists and five rebounds. In a rare feat, he shot 2-of-4 from 3.
Although the masterful performance came in vain, it shouldn’t be quickly forgotten how Gilgeous-Alexander dueled against two-time MVP and four-time champion Stephen Curry.
This was Gilgeous-Alexander’s 45th 30-plus point game of the season — a franchise record. He surpassed the 44 set by Russell Westbrook during his MVP season.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to a hot start. He had 13 points of the Thunders’ 39 points in the first quarter. By half, he had 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
The buckets weren’t as easy in the second half though.
The Warriors did an excellent job of limiting Gilgeous-Alexander in the fourth quarter, when he scored six points on 2-of-2 shooting.
Artistry 👨🎨 pic.twitter.com/v6kcWHIfVX
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
Second chance hustle ➡️ three point opportunity 💦 pic.twitter.com/GqCklOu4n0
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
Don't look now…Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is cooking in the 1st 🔥@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/QekRAxThc7
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) April 5, 2023
Jalen Williams: A-
Playing a more aggressive brand of scoring, Jalen Williams finished with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and went 2-of-3 from 3. He conducted most of his scoring in the second quarter with nine points.
The biggest moment involving Williams, however, happened with him off the court.
With six minutes remaining in a three-point game, Williams was not allowed to check into the game despite being at the scorer’s table to sub in. Following an OKC turnover, the Warriors quickly inbounded the ball.
This led to the Warriors extending their lead by three points and Daigneault was hit with a technical foul after confronting the officials over their error.
Suddenly, it went from 118-115 to 121-115.
After the game, Daigneault spoke about the confrontation and said that the officials allowed the Warriors to fastpitch the inbound pass after disallowing OKC from doing the same earlier in the night.
“They knew that that was a mistake. Here’s my frustration with that: When there’s a dead ball like that, the officials kinda have discretion on how quickly to inbound the ball.
“Players in the league – (Draymond) Green was the inbounder there – have figured that out and they go over there and they compel the official basically like, ‘Gimme the ball, gimme the ball.’ And with some players in the NBA – clearly Green being one of them – they just throw the ball in.
“There’s three officials on the court. Jalen (Williams) is at the scorer’s table. I checked him in possessions before to get him in for defensive possessions. They inbound the ball so fast, that none of them even recognized that there’s a sub – which is the equivalent of an umpire walking a guy on three pitches.
“Now, I have to call a timeout to get the sub in. They scored on the ensuing possession. I was getting one of our better defenders in the game and I get a technical, so that oversight by them cost us three points and a timeout.
“Earlier in the game – 5:57 third quarter – there’s an out-of-bounds on Golden State. Lu Dort’s the inbounder, same official; Lu Dort’s begging for the ball – doesn’t give it to him. Same situation. That’s why I lost my mind because that was in front of our bench.
“That to me is something that we feel regularly as the youngest team in the league. But that one – for a sub to be up and for the ball to be inbounded so quickly that they don’t see the sub, I was beside myself on that obviously.
“But with that being said, credit to Golden State – it’s not why we lost the game. It was a one-possession game at the time. They closed better than we did. It had nothing to do with the outcome but that’s where the frustration comes from.”
Daigneault was asked if the officials admitted the mistake, and he said they did but that an apology doesn’t remove the three points the Warriors scored off of it.
After the game, the officials also admitted the mistake with their answer in the official pool report.
It’s a long quote by Daigneault, but I thought it was worth the read. It was the hottest he’s looked in a game this season — and arguably his entire career.
😤😤😤@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/F93UvmS4kb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
What a way to end the half!😳 pic.twitter.com/jjZXuIpEYc
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
Getting to the lane with force! pic.twitter.com/OxQ2A8lw1n
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
Lu Dort: B-plus
Anyways, back to player grades.
I thought this was one of Lu Dort’s better offensive games of the season.
Dort finished with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 0-of-6 from 3 and 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Dort scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting inside of the paint, a much better outing than what he’s done for most of the season. The six made shots included a variety of high-difficulty looks he somehow made in.
The downhill attacks continue! 😤
Another trip to the charity stripe! pic.twitter.com/swOBrv6lXY
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
Getting to the rack early! 💪 pic.twitter.com/zKbA8KKbC1
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
Josh Giddey: B-minus
In the loss, Josh Giddey finished with 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 1-of-5 from 3, six rebounds and five assists.
Giddey scored eight points in the third quarter but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter as the game slipped away from OKC.
🛟🛟🛟 pic.twitter.com/o5ZdKSk7JI
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
TOUGH finish from Giddey early 😤
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp | pic.twitter.com/gCMqVHKE41
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) April 5, 2023
Isaiah Joe: B
With the Thunder needing juice off the bench, Isaiah Joe provided it although he had an on-night from the field.
In 28 minutes, Joe finished with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and went 2-of-3 from 3. At the free-throw line, he went 4-of-5. He also grabbed five rebounds.
Helping the Thunder score a season-high tying 79 first-half points, Joe got hot in the second quarter with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting.
Moving without the ball for back-to-back threes! pic.twitter.com/my9mwRDMLu
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 5, 2023
