OKLAHOMA CITY — After a 33-point shelling by the defending NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked much better in the second half of their home-opening back-to-back.
The Thunder enjoyed a 124-112 win over the Detroit Pistons to improve to 3-1. It was an impressive response following a blowout loss in their home opener.
“Obviously, we did a really good job of getting to zero and zero,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about quickly flipping the page from their previous loss. “And that is a critical skill in the NBA that scales and applies to every game. Whether you’re coming off a good game, winning streak, bad game, losing streak, you’ve got to wake up zero and zero.”
After the first quarter, the Thunder held a 12-point advantage they wouldn’t surrender for the remainder of the contest. OKC grew its lead to as large as 21 points.
“I thought our effort, our focus, our gameplan discipline was 48 minutes tonight,” Daigneault said. “We stacked possessions.”
The Thunder had another solid offensive outing as they shot 53% from the field and went 13-of-29 (44.8%) from 3. A 23-of-28 (82.1%) night from the free-throw line also helped in their cause.
On defense, the Thunder limited the Pistons’ production. Detroit shot 43% from the field and committed 17 turnovers. Chet Holmgren contributed with 14 points and four blocks.
“As a team, it’s been real easy,” Josh Giddey said on adjusting to Holmgren. “Credit to him, with all the hype and expectations that people had around him coming in, he’s completely bought into the team. He hasn’t tried to come in and show the world how good he is. His talent speaks for itself. It’s on display…
“I think defensively, he’s that piece we haven’t had the last two years — elite rim protector. It gives us guards and wings more freedom to get up on the ball and put pressure on it knowing that we got a guy like Chet behind us.”
After one of his worst career games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a bounce-back performance against the Pistons. He had 32 points and nine rebounds in the win.
“He’s as steady as they come,” Daigneault said about Gilgeous-Alexander. “If there’s one thing that we learned from him over the last few years is his ability to stay consistent through the ups and downs of the season. He’s very impressive. … He’s just got a very steady temperament.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s backcourt partner Giddey also chipped in with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting — his best scoring performance yet in the young season.
“Our group did a really good job at kinda putting that (Denver Nuggets) game behind us and moving forward,” Giddey said. “Locked in on shootaround this morning and came out tonight and executed the right way.”
For the Pistons, Jaden Ivey was their leading scorer off the bench with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Cade Cunningham struggled against OKC, as he finished with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting, five assists and seven turnovers. Ausar Thompson had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“The group doesn’t care about who ends up with stats and whatnot,” Giddey said. “As I said earlier, it’s winning now. … We got a unique group of guys. … It can be anyone on any given night.”
This was a much-needed win after their loss to the Nuggets on Sunday. Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
After a subpar game, Gilgeous-Alexander immediately overcame it the next night of this home back to back.
In 33 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points on 11-of-23 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists. He also went 9-of-9 from the free-throw line — a season-high in attempts.
After starting Sunday’s game 0-for-10, Gilgeous-Alexander immediately erased any thoughts of a similar slow start with 10 first-quarter points.
On paper, this projected as an easy matchup for Gilgeous-Alexander, and to his credit, that’s exactly how it played out. If he can get back to his free-throw numbers from last season, he should enjoy another successful year.
According to Daigneault, he thinks it’s only a matter of time before Gilgeous-Alexander’s free-throw attempts course-corrects. Monday against the Pistons was a good start.
“He leads the league — in a very short part of the season — in drives by a good margin,” Daignault said about Gilgeous-Alexander’s free throws. “… Most fouls come on direct drives; he got fouled on 13.9% of direct drives last year. He’s getting fouled on 2.4% I think this year.”
SHAI MAKES HIM LOOK SILLY 🤯@okcthunder #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/EVFlAYCYzG
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 31, 2023
Stepback Shai pic.twitter.com/VWtRNcHF4t
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2023
SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER POSTER.@okcthunder #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/8CB6jzaQ47
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 31, 2023
Josh Giddey: B-plus
After averaging nine points on 34.3% shooting in his first three games, Giddey had his best scoring outing of the young season against the Pistons.
In 28 minutes, Giddey had 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting, seven rebounds and three assists. Seventeen of his points came in the second half on 8-of-12 shooting as he helped OKC bury the Pistons.
“I was just trying to get downhill, attack the paint, make the right read. Whether that was finish or kick it out,” Giddey said on his scoring mindset. “I’m not worried about shots falling or missing right now. It’s four games into the season. Over time, those kinda things balance out.”
Inside of the paint, Giddey feasted: He shot 9-of-16. After three poor shooting games to start his campaign, perhaps this could be the outing to jump-start his season.
“We’re grateful to have Vanilla Magic out there doing his thing,” Holmgren said about Giddey.
The gift that keeps on giving: @joshgiddey assists pic.twitter.com/60SBeGkCkA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2023
Put his head down and got to the rim ⚡️@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/Cs7wvMzW3j
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2023
Chet Holmgren: B
Less than six minutes into the game, Holmgren made his presence felt from outside. The seven-footer drained three consecutive 3-point attempts to set the mood early in this win.
In 24 minutes, Holmgren had 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting, four rebounds, four blocks and three assists. All five of his attempts were from outside.
Four games in and it’s easy to argue that Holmgren’s been OKC’s second-best player behind Gilgeous-Alexander. His seamless fit with the team and his willingness to adjust to the offensive role needed for a specific night continue to exceed expectations.
“Honestly, it hasn’t been much of an adjustment,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about playing with Holmgren. “I think he compliments my game pretty well so he allows me to be me for the most part.”
Shai finds Chet for the triple 🔥#ThunderUp @okcthunder 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/8wodaOL2DW
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 31, 2023
Count the passes and count the three 🎯 pic.twitter.com/QIVgiQ6E0P
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2023
Chet Holmgren is ON FIRE from 3 😤#ThunderUp @okcthunder 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/3ihNeRhAgE
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 31, 2023
Jalen Williams: B
Williams continues to sneakily have excellent games for the Thunder. In 31 minutes, he had 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists.
The 22-year-old led the team in assists in this 12-point win as the Thunder continued to flex their positional versatility. Williams’ being a lead playmaker is another example of this.
“The guy is just like ridiculously versatile on both ends of the floor,” Daigneault said about Williams. “There’s no situation you can’t put him in… We put him all over the floor. I mean, his versatility is a joke.”
Coming in hot 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HWykDF2Z62
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2023
J-Dub makes it look easy through traffic.#ThunderUp @okcthunder 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/Q2xaS1RbPO
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 31, 2023
Moving and moving fast ⏭️ pic.twitter.com/Sl1Rnvfq5U
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2023
