OKC Thunder triumph as Bazely shines against Magic-player grades

Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:

Theo Maledon had a superb first half, but the best reserve performance of the game goes to Hamidou Diallo. The Thunder player with the most tenure had one of his more efficient performances of his young career.

Diallo and Maledon will be a spark for this second unit moving forward. These two young Thunder guards will undoubtedly take over the bench unit in the future. Although Saturday night was not a good outing for the OKC Thunder’s fast-break offense, Hamidou and Theo made up for 24 points coming off the bench.

If this Thunder duo can keep up this scoring it will surely add depth to this team. Look for OKC to have consistent success in transition and active hands on the defensive end. Look for the success of OKC to be intertwined with the bench play this season.

Best opponent performance:

Nikola Vucevic had the night’s best individual performance scoring 30 points while eating up 13 rebounds to go along with his two assists. After the game, Vucevic was vocal about the Magic losing.

He mentioned the lack of defensive awareness, but this is also a result of the swarming defensive effort that the OKC Thunder brought to this matchup.

There is not much the All-Star big cannot do while he is on the court. His ability to shoot from the mid-range and perimeter are deadly for opposing teams. Vucevic is a prototypical stretch-five, but his soft touch and ability to move his feet on the low post proved to be somewhat daunting for OKC.

The mere fact that Vucevic had this type of performance and the Magic were still unable to come out with a win should prove to be a building block for this OKC squad.

In closing:

The Orlando Magic were unable to get back on the defensive end and it showed.

The Thunder had the Magic out of sorts and this resulted in missed assignments and poor defensive rotation for Orlando. OKC was able to take advantage and held the home team to just 37 percent shooting. They had their way with Orlando in the paint, which then translated to the free-throw line where the Thunder were able to take full advantage, shooting a white-hot 90 percent.

If OKC is able to keep up this defensive intensity, as well as ball movement, look for them to have a successful road trip as they look to beat the Heat on Monday night in Miami.