OKC Thunder player grades: failure to execute early costs at the end

OKC Thunder fans tuned in for basketball but got a track race with Sacramento scoring 69 first half points which ultimately was the deciding factor in the loss.

It was a night of surprises! First of all, no one expected Russell Westbrook to play for the OKC Thunder in Sacramento. It was announced and assumed Westbrook would remain with wife Nina, son Noah and new twin daughters Skye and Jordyn. Yet, there the Brodie was ready to go at the tip.

The second shock was Billy Donovan had stated regardless of whether Terrance Ferguson was on hand or not Hamidou Diallo would get the nod in the starting rotation.

Perhaps two changes were one too many as the Kings jumped on the Thunder getting out to a fast 10-0 lead. Before OKC could catch their breath a track meet broke out and the Kings were up 27-12 with over 5:00 remaining in the initial frame.

Quick substitutions to insert Dennis Schroder and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (for Diallo and Jerami Grant) quickly narrowed the gap within seven (22-29). But, when our friend Raymond Felton entered the match suddenly the lead ballooned and in fairness, by the end of the first, the Thunder were lucky the damage was limited to a score of 37-24.

With the frenetic pace and the Thunder unable to stop the Kings in transition or on the perimeter, OKC entered the half down 69-56 and the ink still drying on the stat sheet.

Iman Shumpert channeled Michael Jordan sinking 23 points on 9 of 15 from the field and 4 of 8 from deep.

Suffice to say, Shump likes playing the Thunder as he played well in the opening game between the squads this season too (26 points – October 21).

Tale of two halves:

Fortunately, a game is four quarters and the OKC crew came out of the lockers with a focus on defense and clearly focused on slowing the Kings in transition. Sacramento didn’t score for the first two minutes until Nemanja Bjelica finally got a bucket to drop.

With seven minutes gone in the third quarter, the same Kings squad who amassed 27 points in just under six minutes of the first had accumulated just SIX points and the Thunder had narrowed the gap to four points. By the 4:10 mark the score was tied as OKC finally recognized a heavy dose of  Adams touches was their magic potion.

OKC took the lead into the fourth with Diallo still perfect and the Kings in disarray having scored a total of 15 points in the quarter.

Still, the combination of so many varied rotations, Westbrook getting his legs back and three regular rotation players out (Alex Abrines, Terrance Ferguson and Nerlens Noel) it was an uphill battle. Having said that allowing 37 and 32 points in the first and second quarters respectively with no defensive presence was why OKC lost.

Let’s dive into the player grades.