The OKC Thunder go down to a tenacious Miami Heat team in a big 118-90 loss. Grades provide more insight into the game.
The OKC Thunder went down to a solid Miami Heat team that came firing from the outset.
After starting their first five games of the season with a 2-3 record, they used this game to show why they were the hottest team in the East and made the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season.
OKC played to their identity in the first half, playing with will power and spirit to keep Miami on their toes with first quarter and second quarter comebacks.
At one point in the first twelve minutes, the Thunder and by the end, had tied the game 26 all. Six turnovers from the Miami Heat led to nine points for OKC.
Mark Daigneault elected to begin the second quarter with his reserves. Theo Maledon got the opportunity to facilitate and showcase his promise. And Darius Bazley had an exceptional game, getting into his rhythm early with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the Thunder well with contributions across the stat sheet.
However, the Heat had threats in every position on the court.
OKC Thunder short on contributors decides the game
Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kelly Olynyk, and Tyler Herro had impressive performances. Herro was a dime machine while Adebayo remained a roadblock all game.
While the Thunder had some good contributors in Hamidou Diallo, Mike Muscala, and Justin Jackson, it wasn’t enough to challenge the incredibly talented Heat.
The Heat scored 27 points by forcing OKC to give up 18 turnovers. They also showed dominance in the paint with 52 points in the paint compared to the Thunder’s 28.
Overall the Heat was sharp and launching with success from downtown. Despite this, there were some positives to take away from the game for this younger Thunder squad. This included the “big 3” of SGA, Lu Dort, and Bazley being the best players in blue.
Let’s look at more of this in player grades.