OKC Thunder: Player grades highlight Al Horford in win against Suns

Al Horford shot lights out in his return for OKC Thunder

The OKC Thunder started off on the wrong foot Wednesday night as the pace of play was slow, and the offense seemed too stagnant as OKC was only able to muster up 17 points in the first quarter alone.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went scoreless in the first eight or nine minutes of the period before hitting a 3-point bucket with three minutes left on the clock in the first quarter. Luguentz Dort was another OKC Thunder player who had a rough time at the beginning of the ball game.

Dort did not register a basket for about the first seven minutes of the contest.

The player of the game, without any hesitation, was Al Horford.

Horford could not miss from beyond the arc, and I would be remiss to not mention that the birth of his daughter may have had something to do with his near-perfect game tonight. Horford was in the zone for a full 48 minutes and looked re-energized after the recent layoff.

This game featured multiple runs with many lead changes

The Thunder lacked rhythm as the game progressed, but the scoring runs shown throughout the contest were fun to watch. OKC tightened up its defense in the second quarter as the Thunder produced a 7-0 run to begin the period.

OKC cut its double-digit deficit down towards the end of the first half while the Thunder went on a 24-4 run in eight minutes to take a 45-42 lead at intermission. Al Horford had 11 points, four rebounds, and one assist at the half while going 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.

The Thunder were all over the Suns in the second quarter as OKC outscored Phoenix 28 to 10, the Suns only shot 16 percent from the field, and they did not register a single-digit percentage-wise from the 3-point line in the second period. Meanwhile, OKC shot 50 percent going 12 out of 24 from the field.

The momentum was in favor of the Thunder by halftime.