Severely shorthanded OKC Thunder deliver gutsy win – player grades

Luguentz Dort is impressive defensively but the one thing stopping him at the moment is the lack of a reliable shot from anywhere outside the paint.

His 3-point shot has looked brutal (form) at times but he kept shooting and eventually two of them dropped giving him a 50 percent accuracy on the day.

HIs obvious defensive prowess makes it easy to keep him on the court and if he can find a way to make that shot more consistent he’ll be a player Billy Donovan will have a hard time keeping off the court.

His totals were 10 points, 2 of 4 from deep, two rebounds, an assist and two steals.

He’s a  work in progress and not quite ready for the starting rotation but there is so much to like about Darius Bazley and his potential. He put that on full display courtesy of two impressive drives in dunks just in the first half.

It’s not like the Thunder were expecting the rookie to replace the scoring of Danilo Gallinari but it was great the youngster did his best to be more aggressive on offense to help out. In truth, his numbers weren’t far off a typical Gallo performance as the rookie put up 15 points, six rebounds and one each for an assist, steal, and a block.

We keep noting it – but an offseason spent working on his offense and this youngster will easily be ready for a starring role as a starter.

Just prior to tip fans learned Steven Adams would suit up. Without Nerlens Noel or Danilo Gallinari able to play the frontcourt depth for the Thunder was extremely thin so his presence was invaluable.

Each time he left the floor he headed to an exercise bike to keep his knee warm. It’s conceivable if Noel wasn’t out the team might not have played the Big Kiwi, but likewise, it was so in character for him to play due to Noel and Gallo being out.

The box score won’t give you much as he failed to score and had only 1 rebound. But he added two assists and four big blocks. More importantly, the fact he even took to the court so there was someone to put on Towns is what should be recognized. KAT got up 19 first-quarter points and then Adams and his team slowed him down limiting him to 18 through the remaining three frames.