OKC Thunder lose in a rout to the Pacers – player grades

In the loss, Hami registered two points, three rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

The writing team at T.I. and many of the fans who’ve reached out on social media have been pondering whether Hamidou Diallo should replace Terrance Ferguson in the starting rotation.

While this game is by no means the end of that debate it still punctuated why Head Coach Billy Donovan has been resolute in going with TFerg.

In Ferguson’s place, Diallo got similar shot attempts as Ferguson does with the starters but he seemed less aggressive or comfortable in the starting role.

It’s one thing to bring energy in from the bench once you get to see what’s happening & quite another to start defending other starters & needing to shut them down immediately. Like everything it takes a period of adapting.

Some have pointed to Diallo’s inefficiency from the perimeter as the lone reason for sticking with Ferguson but I’m not sure it’s that simple. The more perimeter shooters you have on the floor the more spacing it creates.

The other side of the coin is there are already three strong 3-point shooters in the starting rotations with CP3, Gallo, and SGA. Having a player who can drive and cut to also open up lanes is equally appealing. Both Ferguson and Diallo are capable of doing that.

Arguably, the best reason to have Diallo come in off the bench is his energy and scoring ability are essential for the reserve unit to produce. This season the bench is much improved and Diallo is a key reason why. These factors are why it might be best to keep him on the bench as it allows for a change of pace when CP3 and SGA sit and Schroder and Hami enter.

A great example of how veterans learn from each outing tonight was demonstrated in this match. In the game versus the Bucks Gallo took 17 shots making only four. In this game despite the obvious game planning Pacers coach Nate McMillan had for Danilo Gallinari he adapted.

He only took eight shot attempts and was off from deep but like his veteran counterpart Chris Paul, he didn’t let it stop him from doing other things.

Gallo got to the line eight times hitting all eight. He collected four rebounds and grabbed a steal. It was far from a vintage night for the Italian but he was the Pacers defensive priority (with SGA) of Indiana’s game plan and did his best to show the Thunder youngsters other ways to contribute.

The lack of rebounding particularly offensive boards has me wondering precisely how bad that knee contusion is. Steven Adams has been the master of the offensive glass for years but his single rebound from there tonight makes me wonder if he’s not getting the lift necessary or being able to box out like he typically does because of that knee.

He scored 10 points on 5 of 8 from the field, added five total rebounds and an assist while playing the fewest minutes (19) of the starters.