OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder had two separate chances to tie a high-scoring affair against the Charlotte Hornets at the free-throw line. Both occurred in the final 16 seconds with Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey going to the line.
Unfortunately, both players split their trip.
The untimely misses served as appropriate coda to what is the most frustrating loss of the Mark Daigneault era. The Thunder blew a 13-point lead against a short-handed Hornets, 137-134.
To provide full context, here’s who the Hornets were without: LaMelo Ball (ankle surgery), Terry Rozier (foot discomfort), Gordon Hayward (thumb sprain), Mark Williams, Kelly Oubre Jr. (shoulder strain) and Dennis Smith Jr. (toe sprain).
Arguably they are six of the lowly Hornets’ seven best players. None were dearly missed as the reserves mounted the comeback win.
After trailing by six points entering the final frame, the Hornets used a 44-35 fourth-quarter advantage, which included a 30-11 start in the first six minutes, to come away with the upset win.
“(Charlotte) did a great job of not getting knocked out and keeping the game in striking distance,” Daigneault said. “I was most disappointed in our defense — especially in the second half.”
The Hornets have now played spoiler for three consecutive games with two wins over the 11th-placed Dallas Mavericks and a win over the Thunder.
The Thunder and Mavericks both own the same record, with the former ahead of the latter due to owning the tiebreaker.
The Hornets only had eight players available and seven of them scored at least 11 points. P.J. Washington led the way with a career-high 43 points on 16-of-24 shooting and 5-of-9 shooting from 3. Washington helped close the win out with 22 fourth-quarter points.
“He did get hot. It wasn’t like we were giving him wide-open looks,” Giddey said about Washington. “He made some tough shots but we just have to make some of these catches harder. … Credit to him, he had a big night.”
Former Thunder guards Theo Maledon and Svi Mykhailiuk also helped get a win over their old squad. Maledon finished with 19 points and nine assists while Mykhailiuk had 18 points and eight assists.
This was a disappointing loss during a crucial stretch of the season for the Thunder. To give up 137 points in regulation against a Hornets team with just eight players available is frustrating.
Unlike the Portland Trail Blazers game where similar frustrations were voiced, this game was not afforded the luxury of a win masquerading the lackluster performance.
The Hornets shot 52-of-94 (55.3%) from the field and 14-of-35 (40%) from 3. The Thunder didn’t have an answer to protect the rim as the Hornets had 72 points inside of the paint on 36-of-55 (65.5%) shooting.
After the first quarter, the Hornets averaged 37 points a quarter for the remaining three, including 80 second-half points.
“We gotta look in the mirror on that,” Daigneault said about their defense.
On offense, the Thunder were led by the trio of Williams, Giddey and Isaiah Joe. Each scored 30-plus points and made up for most of OKC’s production. The three combined for 95 of the Thunder’s 134 points.
“We scored 134 points, so that clearly wasn’t the issue tonight,” Daigneault said. “It was the defensive end. We have to be a team that can appreciate the amount of energy that it takes on that end of the floor too.”
It was a weird loss for the Thunder. On one hand, the offensive production was excellent — and even more impressive considering their best player was out. The three guys you want to step up in his absence stepped up.
The problem was on the other end of the floor. It’s hard justifying giving up nearly 140 points to an eight-man team with clear tanking intentions. Those types of defensive performances will frustrate fans and end seasons early.
“I think we gave up 30 (points) in a quarter twice,” Williams said. “It’s hard to win when we do that obviously… The defense just kinda killed us.”
The Thunder won’t have much time to lament this loss, as they play again in less than 24 hours against a team similar to the Hornets in the Detroit Pistons — who’ve gone 1-17 in their last 18 games accompanied by an injury report that rivals the length of pharmacy receipts.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Josh Giddey: A-
It was a high-scoring affair for the Thunder that saw them finish with three 30-point scorers.
Josh Giddey was one of the three as he finished with a career-high 31 points on 14-of-22 shooting, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Giddey got off to a hot start as he scored 11 points in the first quarter. Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey did a great job at stepping up his scoring game.
The 20-year-old was active inside of the paint, where he scored 26 points on 13-of-19 shooting.
As mentioned earlier, Giddey had a chance to tie the game late. After getting fouled with four seconds left, he went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line on a trip that essentially sealed the win for the Hornets.
A tough break for Giddey in an otherwise fantastic game. But in those situations, you got to knock down those free throws.
“We have to buckle down and understand what we’re playing for and what the stakes are this late in the season,” Giddey said.
Forcing the turnover and capitalizing on the break! pic.twitter.com/c4nNlOi5i2
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2023
And just like that, another bucket for Josh Giddey 👀@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/wJqfGqfrHr
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 29, 2023
Jalen Williams: A-
Everything that was said about Giddey can basically be copied and pasted here.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams enjoyed the best game of his young career. He finished with a career-high 31 points on an efficient 11-of-16 shooting and went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Williams also finished with three rebounds, four assists and four steals.
After a slow start, Williams amped it up in the second quarter with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The ROTY candidate scored 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting inside of the paint.
Just like with Giddey, Williams had a shot to tie the game at the charity stripe.
After giving up the easy dunk to Nick Richards to give the Hornets a two-point lead with 19.1 seconds left, Williams pushed the ball in transition and forced P.J. Washington to foul him on a drive.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, Williams missed the first attempt and went 1-of-2, which resulted in the Hornets having a one-point lead with 15.2 seconds left.
Even with the critical misses, the Thunder were gifted a final shot to tie the game.
With 2.1 seconds to go in a three-point deficit, Williams managed to heave a 28-foot prayer that fell short to end the game. As the buzzer sounded, the team walked off in frustration.
Downhill attack with urgency! pic.twitter.com/FaWDc0mEax
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2023
The kid is cookin' 👨🍳
Jalen Williams has 24 in tonight's game with a quarter to go!@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/qhTKjhJ7vY
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 29, 2023
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2023
‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/CrRWkZHy91
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2023
Early action in the paint 🎨 pic.twitter.com/pb16X5lOKm
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2023
Isaiah Joe: A+
Playing with a lip laceration, Isaiah Joe balled out and scored a new career high.
Starting in place of Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe finished with 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting and went 6-of-11 from 3. He also went 5-of-7 from the free-throw line.
The 3-point sniper enjoyed a 5-of-7 night on 2-point attempts.
Attempting to lead the Thunder to a win, Joe led the team with 10 fourth-quarter points. He hit a timely three-pointer after a timely three-pointer, but alas, it wasn’t enough to avoid the upset loss.
“Just because they’re a team that’s not going to make the playoffs, doesn’t mean they’re going to lay down and give you the game,” Joe said. “You gotta take it. You gotta earn it.”
Isaiah Joe with a DEEP clutch 3 late in the 4th! 👀@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/cZrN5FTIVg
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 29, 2023
ISAIAH JOE THROWS IT DOWN 😤@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/PcFA76kxoW
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 29, 2023
No one can touch Isaiah Joe from behind the arc 🔥
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/r2e5GUN6Uj
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 29, 2023
Lu Dort: B-
After facing serious criticism following a 2-of-14 night, Lu Dort played the role of the unlikely hero in the fourth quarter.
After the Hornets started the fourth quarter on a 13-4 run to retake the lead, the Thunder went to Dort to provide some juice and he did so. He provided eight points on 2-of-3 shooting in his nine fourth-quarter minutes.
This included a personal 6-0 stretch where he cut the Hornets’ lead from 13 points to seven points with 5:21 left in the fourth quarter. That effort came in vain, but it shouldn’t be forgotten.
Overall, Dort finished with 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting, went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and grabbed seven rebounds.
Another tough take to the paint! 😤@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/Gpzf95Mxgz
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2023
