OKC Thunder: Player grades for revenge win over Rockets

Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:

After watching the game, there should be little doubt in anyone’s mind that Williams was the player of the game for the OKC Thunder.

Williams came off the bench and logged just 23 minutes but still managed to impact the game in ways no other player can claim. Williams was quick on the rebound, finding paths to snag them from opposing players. He finished with just six, but each rebound stands out as a big-time grab for the Thunder.

Williams was also efficient, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts and finishing 7-of-8 overall. His 19 points led the team, which was incredible for a player whose previous season-high was 14 against the Chicago Bulls. Aside from that game and this one, Williams hasn’t scored over nine points this season.

Best opponent performance:

There’s not another player on the Rockets team who was more efficient or as impactful as Gordon.

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Gordon shot 53 percent for 22 points. The next closest player was Oladipo, and beyond that, no other Houston player did much for the Rockets in the blow-out loss. Gordon was the only consistent shooter for the Rockets, and without him on the court, the game could have been much more of a disaster for Houston.

John Wall was absent from the game, but there is no guarantee he would have done any better with the way the OKC Thunder played.

In closing:

The OKC Thunder were firing on all cylinders. Just two days after getting blown out by 30 points, adjustments were made that allowed the Thunder an opportunity to split the mini-bubble series with the Rockets.

The win for the Thunder was made more impressive due to the absence of Gilgeous-Alexander and Hill.

The team started hot and stayed hot, keeping the Rockets from ever gaining enough momentum to stage a comeback. Much like Monday’s game, only in reverse, the Thunder went up big and stayed there.