OKC Thunder: Player grades for revenge win over Rockets

OKC Thunder starting lineup grades:

It’s hard to give Dort any grade at all for Wednesday night’s performance. He played just nine minutes before leaving due to knee soreness, but when Dort was on the court, his impact was felt only on defense.

Dort finished the game scoreless, missing all five of his shots. In that time, he picked up two assists but did little else offensively.

In the end, the Thunder didn’t need him to run away with the game.

Without Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort in the lineup, the Thunder needed Bazley to pick up the slack.

And he did.

Bazley was active both offensively and defensively. He shot just below 50 percent, making six of his 13 shots, and he knocked down two of his six 3-point shot attempts. He finished a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.

Overall, Bazley was sensational. His 12 rebounds led the team and helped give the Thunder a 59-49 rebounding advantage over the Rockets. He also picked up two assists and two blocks.

There’s probably not a more consistent player than Horford. The veteran center has been automatic nearly all season for the Thunder, and Wednesday night was no exception.

Horford finished with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He also picked up six rebounds for the Thunder.

Horford does well inside, but what makes him even more dangerous is his ability to hit from 3-point range, which he did twice on Wednesday. Turnovers were an issue for Horford, though, as he finished the night with a team-high seven.

Almost nobody is surprised about the development of Diallo. The guard has consistently been one of the Thunder’s strongest players this season.

On Wednesday, Diallo scored 16 points on 55.6 percent shooting while pulling down nine rebounds and picking up three steals.

The only area for concern on Wednesday for Diallo was his turnovers. He turned the ball over six times.

Luckily for Diallo and his Thunder teammates, his turnovers did little to impact the game’s outcome.

Maledon was stout on the defensive end against the Rockets. His performance kept Oladipo from ever getting into a rhythm, which was big for the Thunder.

His shooting, however, was abysmal. Maledon finished with just six points on 2-for-12 shooting. His six steals, one of which came when he went straight up against Oladipo and pulled the ball from his hands at the rim, were big for the Thunder.

It’s hard to penalize him too much as he was tasked with a heavy workload defensively.