OKC Thunder: Player grades from solid win versus the New York Knicks –
OKC Thunder starting lineup grades: A good group effort
The starters all played a decent role tonight. Some did struggle to play at their best but all contributed to the victory.
GEORGE HILL. C+. . G. Oklahoma City Thunder
George Hill had a really quiet first half. He assisted on three made baskets and did not score. Hill was fouled twice while trying to get the ball into transition, being tripped both times.
He made a crucial defensive play with six minutes left in the game before scoring the bucket on the other end. His defense at game end was crucial to the win.
A. . G/F. Oklahoma City Thunder. SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER
Gilgeous-Alexander had a solid first half. He had seven points and six rebounds to go along with three assists. Had his Thunder teammates converted more baskets, this assist number would have been much greater.
SGA simply took over in the third period with 13 points and had a double-double before the end of the third. He would end the night with a line of 24 points, ten rebounds, and six assists.
Oklahoma City Thunder. LU DORT. B-. . PG
It is not often I can saw that Luguentz Dort was not really a factor in a full half of basketball. He made some good defensive plays, but RJ Barrett still had 11 points at the end of the half.
One of his best plays was a drive and dish which set up Hamidou Diallo‘s second 3-point field goal make for the season. He made huge plays at the end of the game but also turned the ball over in thoughtless ways.
C+. . SF. Oklahoma City Thunder. DARIUS BAZLEY
Bazley was off for the first half of this game. His 3-point shot was off and he could not buy a bucket. He still kept playing hard, with four points in the third including a huge-putback dunk which kept the momentum in favor of the Thunder. Bazley was still an influence on the boards, collecting seven for the night
Oklahoma City Thunder. AL HORFORD. A. . F/C
Al Horford was the star of the first half on both teams. He had 15 points including connecting on 3-of-4 from deep.
His defense was the key to keeping the Thunder in the mix. With the rest of the team playing well in the second half, he took a step back on offense.
Horford was huge on the boards down the stretch. He also did not let Julius Randle get any daylight on offense.
With Horford holding Randle in check it kept the Knicks from being able to mount a challenge behind their best player.