OKC Thunder fade in the 4th: Roby shines in 3 takeaways
By Ryan Lewis
A tough final frame by the OKC Thunder allowed the Magic to surge to victory, but the loss was tempered by a night of firsts which highlight TI’s takeaways.
The OKC Thunder battled the undefeated Orlando Magic through three solid quarters before ultimately falling apart in the fourth to lose 118-107. Despite the loss, the Thunder might just be the first team in NBA history to make tanking fun.
The Thunder were without veterans George Hill and Al Horford in the game, allowing an opportunity for the team’s younger players to see additional minutes on the court.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all OKC scorers with 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 33 minutes, including a flawless 3-for-3 performance from 3-point range.
In other words, SGA did what SGA does.
OKC Thunder 3 takeaways from loss to Magic:
Luguentz Dort added another solid performance to the young NBA season with a 15-point showing on 6-of-14 shooting, Hamidou Diallo added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and Mike Muscala finished with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, three of which were 3-pointers.
It was sloppy at times with the Thunder committing 20 turnovers and shooting poorly from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter making just four of their 13 attempts, but there were certainly some noteworthy moments in the game.
While Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort and Muscala performed as they have so many times before, nobody could have predicted Isaiah Roby using his first NBA start to put the league on notice.
That’s why he leads TI’s 3 takeaways in the Thunder’s 118-107 loss to the Magic.