OKC Thunder triumph as Bazely shines against Magic-player grades
By Brandon Dale
The OKC Thunder displayed great pace and ball movement as they beat the Orlando Magic on Saturday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helped facilitate massive road win.
The OKC Thunder were able to use set pieces to ignite the offense as they took down the Orlando Magic in the first game of the New Year. Darius Bazely had his third career double-double Saturday night amassing 19 points while gathering 12 rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander channeled his inner John Stockton, dishing out seven assists to go along with five rebounds and 16 points as the Thunder took down the Orlando Magic 108-99.
OKC held the Magic to 37 percent shooting and was able to get to the line, shooting 19 of 21 on the night. Six OKC Thunder players were in double figures tonight as the bench was huge, eclipsing 24 rebounds while scoring 34 points.
In the fourth quarter, OKC outscored Orlando 24-17 as seven different players were able to find the basket. OKC’s suffocating defense held Nikola Vucevic and Terrance Ross to only eight points combined during that timeframe.
38. Final. 108. 149. 99
Hamidou Diallo and Theo Maledon provided a much-needed spark as their youth and athleticism was on display Saturday night leading the OKC Thunder to victory. George Hill was able to pour in 18 points as his veteran leadership was on display through every minute of the matchup.
Nikola Vucevic led the way with 30 points and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Team defense was the name of the game tonight as OKC held Orlando to a mere 18 points in the second quarter.
Luguentz Dort and Hami really tightened up on the defensive end as Orlando struggled to get it going down the stretch as OKC’s team defense was superb, leaving the Magic with little options on the offensive end.
Orlando was able to run in transition as the Magic scored 17 points on the fast break. The OKC Thunder were able to find two points in the open floor Saturday night, but the ability to move Orlando from the three-point line was key to the Thunder’s team win.