Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:
Moses Brown was the other player who returned from playing with the OKC Blue. While he might want to think twice about trying to score over ever affable Boban Marjanovic otherwise he had a major impact off the bench.
In particular, his rebounding was a big reason why the Thunder won the boards 60-49 as the youngster grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds including five on the offensive glass. Brown also scored eight points, added a block, and sunk both his free throws.
Daigneault will want to see him shoot better than 3 of 8 but not every team will have a player of Marjanovic’s size to block him at the rim.
Best opponent performance:
Without Luka Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis available to play the Mavericks offense struggled to find a consistent flow. Josh Richardson stepped up in the absence of the two main scorers to produce a team-high 27 points on a highly efficient 10 of 15 from the field. JR added six assists, a rebound, a steal, and two blocks.
Hat tip to Tim Hardaway Jr. who also had an effective offensive night with 24 points and six rebounds but needed 18 shots to collect his points.
In closing:
So much for tanking – even starting two rookies didn’t result in a loss. This young OKC Thunder squad simply refuses to quit or raise the white flag.
Mark Daigneault played nine players electing to go with Moses Brown over Mike Muscala. Should we read anything into that? Are there teams calling to inquire about Moose’s services for example or did the coach think playing the youngsters’ additional minutes might equate to a loss?
I’d lean to the former although it might just be as simple as the team has to play a back-to-back set this weekend. Plus with the young guys, it’s better to keep their rhythm intact while Muscala has proven his ability to rise to the situation regardless of how often he plays.
You can view the full ESPN box score here.
The Thunder will be back in action Saturday playing host to the Knicks with the tip at 2:00 p.m EST (1:00 p.m. CT).