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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Clemente Almanza

Player grades: Thunder complete 23-point comeback in 135-127 2OT win over Raptors

Thunder OKC Raptors Aaron Wiggins Shai GilgeousAlexander Josh Giddey Lu Dort Chet Holmgren BallySports Bally Sports Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — Catching the ball, Aaron Wiggins drained in a corner 3-pointer to give OKC a seven-point lead with less than two minutes left. The 3-point shot served as the dagger after 58 minutes of intense basketball.

The Oklahoma City Thunder completed the 23-point comeback in their 135-127 double-overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. The Thunder have now won three in a row.

“That was a great game for us,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “Credit them, their game plan, they made us uncomfortable in the first half. You never know how a team’s going to play you, so it took us obviously a little bit to calibrate that.

It looked ugly early on for the Thunder. After the first quarter, OKC trailed Toronto, 33-23. A 30-point second frame made the issue worse as the Raptors entered halftime with a 63-47 lead.

“The way they started the game, I thought they were just on the gas,” Daigneault said. “They played with way more force than we did on both ends of the floor and had us on our heels for much of the first half.”

The beginning of the second half was much of the same issues for the Thunder as the Raptors quickly built a 23-point lead. It didn’t take until around halfway through the third frame before OKC began its climb back up.

A 34-point third quarter saw the Thunder enter the final frame shaving their deficit to 87-81. OKC eventually erased its deficit less than four minutes into the quarter and tied it up at 91 apiece.

From that point on in the final frame, neither team led by more than three points. Trailing by two with 27 seconds left, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed his patent mid-range jumper but the ball ricocheted near the sidelines, where a diving RJ Barrett landed on the ball out of bounds.

This gave the Thunder another golden chance to tie it in the final seconds and Josh Giddey found a cutting Aaron Wiggins for the game-tying layup on the inbound pass with four seconds left.

In the first overtime, Gilgeous-Alexander redeemed himself with a game-tying stepback 3-pointer to tie it up at 118 apiece. He blocked Gary Trent Jr.’s attempt at a game-winner and forced a rare second overtime.

In the second OT, the 3-pointers started falling for OKC. It hit three 3-pointers to start the second five-minute period capped off by Wiggins’ aforementioned 3-pointer.

Giddey completed an impressive and-one and Gilgeous-Alexander soared for the dunk to hit the exclamation marks of the Thunder’s comeback win.

It was a historic offensive outing for the Thunder. They shot 47% from the field and went 23-of-63 (36.5%) from 3 — the 23 made outside shots tied a franchise record. OKC needed the hot night from 3 as it only went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The Thunder had five players score 20-plus points. This was only the third time in franchise history they’ve reached this mark.

Gilgeous-Alexander had a near triple-double of 23 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds. Chet Holmgren contributed with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists.

After a rough start, a pair of Thunder starters played key roles in OKC’s second-half comeback — Giddey had one of his best outings yet with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds. Lu Dort had 22 points and seven rebounds.

Off the bench, Aaron Wiggins saw his role increase as the game progressed and totaled 20 points. His contributions were more valuable once OKC lost starter Cason Wallace to a shoulder injury in the second half.

“It was a gutsy win for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “What we brought in the second half was needed.”

Meanwhile, the Raptors shot 48% from the field and went 14-of-35 (40%) from 3. They went 17-of-21 from the free-throw line. Six players scored double-digit points.

Barrett — who was questionable with knee swelling — led Toronto with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and seven rebounds. Scottie Barnes totaled 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Jakob Poeltl had a 19-point and 12-rebound double-double.

Immanuel Quickley had 17 points and 11 assists while Dennis Schroder had 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Raptors.

The Thunder survived their lengthiest game of the season with a thrilling win against the struggling Raptors. Overcoming a 23-point deficit is nothing to sneeze at and OKC’s resilience to come out of halftime and have a strong finish is one of the major qualities why they’re off to their best start following 50 games in nearly a decade.

“The chemistry of the team is real,” Daigneault said. “As the game gets harder, they tend to connect more and problem-solve together and I thought tonight was a great example of that.

“The game was not going our way on either end. Easy to pack it in, point fingers, try to do it ourselves. We did quite the opposite coming out of halftime.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

It was an efficient, albeit quiet, night for Gilgeous-Alexander. Toronto made it a priority to blitz the MVP candidate as often as it could when the ball reached him.

In a close contest, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 14 assists, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 48 minutes. He shot 2-of-5 from 3.

As the Thunder mounted a comeback, he scored eight points in the third frame to lay the groundwork for OKC’s eventual win. After being held scoreless in the fourth quarter, he scored seven points in the two OT periods.

It wasn’t the usual 30-point outing, Gilgeous-Alexander made plenty of winning plays down the stretch, including the previously mentioned block on Trent Jr.’s potential game-winner. The All-Star starter had one of his best all-around games of the season.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on OKC’s 50-game start. “We’re doing something right. The last two seasons, we’ve gotten tremendously better tremendously fast, so whatever we’re doing is clearly working.”

Josh Giddey: A

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

A poor first half saw Daigneault bench Giddey to start the second half for Jaylin Williams. It was a rough start for the 21-year-old as his struggles this season have been well chronicled.

Then, something clicked for him in the second half as he became the unlikely source for OKC’s comeback. He scored 18 points in the second half as Toronto had no answer for him inside of the paint.

In total, he finished with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, six assists and six rebounds in 41 minutes. He shot 2-of-6 from 3 and was a team-high plus-17.

At the end of regulation, he served as the inbound maestro on Wiggins’ game-tying bucket. He found him on a cut for an easy look at the basket as Toronto’s defense slept.

In the final seconds of the second overtime, Giddey muscled his way through for the tough and-one to gift-wrap one of his best games of the season. He flexed his muscles and smacked fans’ hands in celebration.

“It’s been a different year with me,” Giddey said. “With guys coming in, sacrifices needed for a team like this and the success we’ve had requires that… We got so much talent on this team it’s not gonna be everyone’s night every night…

“I was just trying to get back to me. I thought tonight was a good step in the right direction in terms of confidence and decision-making. It’s not gonna be overnight. These things take time. Progress is never linear with things like this. I’m 21 years old.”

Chet Holmgren: A

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Holmgren played a key role in the Thunder’s win. In 41 minutes, he had 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. He shot 4-of-10 from 3.

His fourth 3-pointer gave OKC a four-point lead with 3:13 left in the second OT. It started the 3-point barrage that ensued in the period as the Thunder went on a 9-3 run to put this game away.

The 21-year-old has been one of the Thunder’s best players this season and he did an excellent job of stepping up with several key absences in the second half.

Lu Dort: B-plus

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

It was a tale of two halves for Dort, who saved a forgettable first half with an awesome second half. He helped limit the Raptors in the second half.

In 41 minutes, Dort had 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. He shot 5-of-12 from 3.

After being limited to five points on six shots, he tallied 17 points in the second half. He hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second overtime, as OKC didn’t surrender the lead the rest of the way.

The 24-year-old has been an important part of the Thunder’s success this season as one of their traditional starters.

“We just had to step up at halftime,” Dort said. “We just had our conversation, watched a little bit of film and see what we can do better in the second half, which we did.”

Aaron Wiggins: A

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Without several of their top wing options, OKC was left with Wiggins to play with the starters for most of the second half. The third-year wing delivered some important moments.

In 33 minutes off the bench, Wiggins had 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting, six rebounds and two assists. He shot 4-of-11 from 3. 18 of his points came after halftime.

Wiggins received the inbound pass in the final seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime on a cut to the basket that resulted in a layup. In the second overtime, he swished in a 3-pointer to serve as the finish.

“He was huge,” Daigneault said on Wiggins. “He and Chet are two guys that we’ve encouraged to shoot more open threes because of how well they shoot it and what it does for our offense.”

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