OKC Thunder: Grades feature Muscala, SGA strong effort in win vs. Wolves

Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:

With an honorable mention to Hamidou Diallo, the gong for the best reserve can only go to Mike Muscala.

Mike Muscala showed a side of himself we have not seen before. He was strong inside getting offensive rebounds and put his head down to score in the paint.

As a result, he hit 22 points before the third minute of the second period, connecting on  7-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.

He did not attempt a 3-point shot until the six-minute mark of the second, which he made of course. Had to come on in the third period to stop Reid and had cooled off from three.

Best opponent performance:

Naz Reid was a solid contributor in the first half. However, when the Timberwolves came out in the second half, Reid had a personal 11 point run to get his team back in the game.

He had such a good game that he was trusted with the last shot in an attempt to get the game to overtime. He scored 29 points adding six rebounds and two steals.

In closing

The Thunder almost gave the game away after such a hot start. However, games like this will season some of the younger guys so that they understand what it takes to win.