TULSA — Hitting on a pair of free throws, Ousmane Dieng trimmed OKC’s deficit to one point with 1.7 seconds left in regulation. Impressively enough, Cason Wallace quickly fouled Marcus Sasser before time expired in the subsequent possession,
Alas, Sasser made a critical free throw to seal the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 118-116 preseason loss to the Detroit Pistons. It was a thrilling ending to a productive two-week preseason slate for OKC.
“I thought it was good,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about their preseason experience. “Now, we’ve got five days. We have some critical practices coming up. We need to be better by the first game than we are right now.”
The final result didn’t go OKC’s way, but the outcome of this preseason game doesn’t matter. What does matter was players who usually don’t get regular-season opportunities to experience late-game situations like these getting them.
“These preseason games are perfect for — obviously building chemistry with each other — but working on things we need to get better at,” Josh Giddey said. “I think we’ve been in situations late in games, which is exactly what our team needs.”
The Pistons escaped with the preseason win with the help of a 39-point third quarter. After scoring just 49 points in the first half, the Pistons turned up their offensive production with 69 second-half points.
Getting to the free-throw line at a frequent rate helped Detroit overcome a 33.3% shooting night from outside. The Pistons went 32-of-39 (82.1%) from the free-throw line, a much more efficient night compared to OKC’s 21-of-32 (65.6%) outing.
Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed the preseason finale with a knee contusion not deemed serious, the rest of OKC’s young core showed out for the Tulsa crowd.
In his first half of action, Chet Holmgren tied a nice bow to a fruitful preseason return to the NBA court after missing all of last season. His dominating 14 first-half minutes included him stuffing three separate shots. Now that preseason is over, Holmgren will get a chance to tally up blocks in the regular season the next time he suits up for the Thunder in six days.
“He’s obviously a big difference maker for what we’re doing,” Giddey said about Holmgren. “His talent speaks for itself when he’s out there.”
Jalen Williams and Giddey were also standouts in their time on the court. Williams scored a game-high 20 points while Giddey had a 14-7-7 line. The latter also attempted eight free throws, something he’ll hope can carry over into the regular season.
“I thought overall, offensively, the process was good tonight,” Daigneault said. “We didn’t shoot as well in other games but it’s encouraging.”
Meanwhile, the Pistons were led by rookie Ausar Thompson. The 20-year-old had 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in 22 minutes. It was a much better outing compared to how he did against OKC at Montreal last week.
Cade Cunningham, who went to Oklahoma State, also suited up. In 22 minutes, he had 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, six assists and six rebounds.
With the conclusion of this exhibition, the Thunder will enjoy six consecutive off days before kicking off the regular season on the road against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
“We’re a better team today than we were two weeks ago at the start of preseason,” Giddey said. “I think we’re ready to hit the ground running in Chicago.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Jalen Williams: A
With Gilgeous-Alexander out, Williams was the best player on the floor for the Thunder. In 26 minutes, he had 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and five assists. He shot 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
An interesting wrinkle that Daigneault used during this preseason game was benching Williams to start the second half and eventually subbing him back in. He did this a lot last season, and it appears he’ll continue this unorthodox coaching trick this season once again.
When asked about the decision, Daigneault revealed he wants his team to get used to the idea of starting games but coming off the bench in the second half.
While it was a nice game for Williams, the highlight of the night for the second-year wing happened after it. During Giddey’s postgame interview, Williams — along with Holmgren and Jaylin Williams — jokingly crashed the room.
Williams and Holmgren hovered over Giddey as he fielded his last questions and soon did their postgame availability together. The young group continues to jell as smoothly off the court as on it.
Tough driving in downtown Tulsa 💨 pic.twitter.com/DzOH6yUeeP
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2023
Chet Holmgren: A
Holmgren wrapped up an impressive preseason with a dominant first half. In 14 minutes, he collected 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, four rebounds and three blocks.
The three blocks in 14 minutes are impressive in itself — but the nature of how they were recorded was a feat on its own. One included absorbing the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Jalen Duren at the rim with both of his arms. Another included a failed push-off attempt by Jaden Ivey that didn’t reach the rim when the ball was intercepted by Holmgren.
Arguably the biggest storyline heading into the preseason was how Holmgren would look after missing all of last season and — with the caveat of it being only the preseason — he’s looked excellent for OKC.
“He’s progressed really well,” Daigneault said. “It starts with the fact that he worked really hard to get himself back to this point with that rehab, with great discipline. I give him a lot of credit for that, so I’m happy for him, that he’s out there competing again.”
Stop ✋ and slam 🔨 pic.twitter.com/uQWPY4HnW0
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2023
Rim protector by nature 😤 pic.twitter.com/202MXLfVIy
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2023
7️⃣ embracing the physicality pic.twitter.com/lGXk494LZv
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2023
Josh Giddey: B
Getting to the free-throw line has been a big point of emphasis for Giddey heading into this season. The third-year guard has talked ad nauseam about improving his career 1.7 attempt average.
In the preseason finale, that ambition materialized on the court and led to one of his better performances of the two-week campaign.
In 25 minutes, Giddey finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, seven assists, seven rebounds and three steals. He went 4-of-8 from the free-throw line.
The free-throw percentage needs to improve, but eight attempts in 25 minutes is an encouraging sign of where his results can head.
“I’ve been trying to get to the line a little bit more,” Giddey said. “I struggled with it my first few years. I got there tonight, it’s just a matter of making them now.”
Found the gap 👀 pic.twitter.com/Is3U9owv0m
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2023
Cason Wallace: B
After dealing with a toe sprain, Wallace made his return for the Thunder to get one final preseason contest under his belt. In 26 minutes off the bench, he finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, three rebounds and three steals.
The 3-point shot wasn’t there for him — as he went 1-of-3 — but the jumper was. He made a pair of midrange pull-up jumpers. A solid outing for the rookie as he heads into the regular season.
Leaving it all on the floor pic.twitter.com/VkUz8p6LgM
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 20, 2023
