OKC Thunder fall to 1-4, player grades reveal why Blazers prevailed

Through the initial matches this season it’s often appeared Chris Paul was trying to initiate the offense with an emphasis on playmaking and leadership. Tonight, it was different as CP3 was more committed to dictating the outcome. He was extremely animated and verbose with his court mates.

Paul was more aggressive offensively getting to the line for 11 free throws and was actively involved in the offense at game end.

His stat line featured a team-high 21 points along with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.  We’ll have to keep an eye on whether Paul starts involving himself more in the offense moving forward (he still only took 10 shots) or if he assumed a larger role on a night when his backcourt partner wasn’t as effective as the previous four matches.

https://twitter.com/okcthunder/status/1189729055760740352

Every player has good and bad shooting nights and for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander he finally had the latter in his fifth game with the Thunder.

SGA was 3 of 13 from the field and missed both his 3-point attempts. Like Chris Paul, he remained aggressive which equated to him reaching the charity stripe for 10 attempts.

Even on an off shooting night, there is much to admire about the Canadian’s play as he affected the game in other ways. Without Adams, there was a concern to make sure the rebounding battle wasn’t lopsided and SGA helped out with that situation on both ends of the hardwood.

On the night his stat line was 13 points, eight boards (three offensive boards), three assists, and a steal.