Player grades: OKC Thunder ousted by LA for second time in week

OKC Thunder Best Reserve:

Jerami Grant‘s energy was obvious whenever he hit the court. Although he still looks raw offensively at times. there is no denying the effort. As it was his field goal percentage mirrored Paul George’s as best of the night (outside of players who took just two shots). He also snared eight rebounds (five of which were offensive).

Hard not to love what Grant brings to the court and easy to forgive his mistakes because Grant doesn’t care if he’ll get posterized as he’d rather make the effort to stop the opponent.

On an evening when energy and team ball were in short display, Grant offered both.

Best Opponent:

Although Julius Randle and Kyle Kuzma could’ve earned this spot there is just something so smooth about Ingram’s game. Fundamentally he is sound and the ceiling still seems far away. His shooting stroke is pure, his length is palpable and his I.Q. is evident.

As mentioned the minute Patterson was moved off him he took his defender to school (primarily Abrines).

Similar to players like Andrew Wiggins he isn’t a demonstrative guy, rather his external character is always calm, almost looking lackadaisical. Perhaps there is an internal fire, but as a fan of his game it would be nice to see him let it out a bit more. That may be a task for Luke Walton or a veteran to pull out of him.  Certainly his new teammate Isaiah Thomas has no problem showcasing his bravado, so maybe the two can balance each other.

Final Thoughts

More from Thunderous Intentions

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• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Laker fans made their feelings obvious with a rousing ovation for Paul George who recently indicated more of a willingness to return to OKC. Thunder Nation will simply have to wait to see if George sees the opportunity in OKC being better than taking on a leadership role with another superstar in LA.

One thing which should help is the thrashing the Thunder put on the Warriors in both their victories over Golden State this season. That and the fact George isn’t the type of guy who wants to be a demonstrative leader.

It’s simply a matter of patience for Thunder Nation at this point and there’s no use worrying about that decision until the season ends. Hopefully, a long prosperous postseason cements George’s plans, but there are still 26 games to play prior to reaching that stage.

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For the full box score visit ESPN link here and for game highlights, click the video above. Check back tomorrow for more trade deadline items and other Thunder thoughts.