OKC Thunder: Player grades for lopsided loss to Knicks

Everything about the first quarter of the game said the OKC Thunder would defeat the New York Knicks – and easily.

Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Darius Bazley and Hamidou Diallo, the Thunder looked great out the gate, holding the Knicks to 22 points while putting up 31 of their own. But the Knicks slowly chipped away at the Thunder’s advantage and seized a two-point lead going into the break.

In the third quarter, the Thunder regained the lead early on before a 9-0 run by the Knicks put New York back on top. From that point forward, the Thunder trailed, trying to get back into the game but ultimately failing before the Knicks ran away with it in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t a pretty collapse by the Thunder. In an attempt to crawl back into the game, the Thunder all but abandoned shots from inside the perimeter in the fourth quarter, settling 3-pointers that never seemed to hit.

The Thunder made just one of their 14 3-point shot attempts in the quarter. To put that into perspective, the Thunder attempted just 22 total shots, which means that 63 percent of the Thunder’s attempts came from deep.

Kenrich Williams led the team in points in the quarter, scoring six. He was also the only player to hit a 3-point shot in the final frame.

But the fourth quarter doesn’t tell the whole story.

Turnovers hurt the OKC Thunder. They had 18, which was eight more than the Knicks. They also lived and died by 3-point shooting, making just eight of their 32 attempts. Three of those conversions came in the first quarter.

However, it wasn’t all bad.

The Thunder got decent production from their bench. Brown shot an efficient 80 percent from the field. Ty Jerome shot 40 percent for 11 points, Kenrich Williams scored 13 on 60 percent shooting and Justin Jackson finished with 10 points on 42.9 percent shooting.

With that being said, let’s dive into player grades.

Shortly after I gave Aleksej Pokusevski a little bit of praise, the OKC Thunder rookie reverted to his pre-G League form.

Pokusevski’s struggles continued against the Knicks, where he finished 0-of-6 from 3-point territory and made just two of his 11 total shots. He played nearly 30 minutes in the game and earned a bit of a break on grading due to his seven total rebounds.

He’s still got a ways to go, but he’ll get there.

Isaiah Roby is one of the few surprises on the Thunder this season. With each passing game, Roby improves and earns the minutes he is given.

On Saturday, he shot 62.5 percent from the field and scored 10 points. He finished with three assists and just one rebound, and he also picked up one steal and one block. What’s most impressive about Roby is his patience. He doesn’t force shots and instead waits for the high-percentage looks.

He’ll be a big-time player for this team in the future.

Al Horford did what Horford does. The center has rarely had a bad night in a Thunder uniform, and with Gilgeous-Alexander out, Horford took over and led the team in scoring with 16 points on 77.8 percent shooting. Horford also picked up five rebounds in the game.

His veteran presence on the team is a much-needed asset for the Thunder.

Luguentz Dort has been hot and cold for much of the season. There have been games where he’s looked like a veteran, and then there have been games where he looks like he could use a bit more developmental time.

Regardless, his presence on the court is important for the Thunder. He commands respect because of his ability to go off on any given night, and his defense is quickly becoming one of the best in the league.

On Saturday, Dort shot a poor 22.2 percent from the field. He finished with 14 points, but 10 of those points came from the free-throw line, where he was a perfect 10-for-10.

There’s a lot to love about Theo Maledon‘s game. He’s a pretty consistent shooter, and his comfort level on an NBA court continues to climb the more minutes he gets.

He shot 57.1 percent from the field on Saturday and ended the game with 10 points. His turnovers are a cause for concern, as he finished with five in the game, but with time, that’ll improve, as well. He added three assists in the game and picked up four rebounds.

He’s doing well this season, and his development is on pace to make him a key Thunder piece in the future.

Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:

It would be easy to give this honor to Williams. After all, Williams scored the most of all the reserves. But Moses Brown deserves some recognition for what he has continued to do fresh out of the G League bubble.

Brown scored nine points for the OKC Thunder on 80 percent shooting. He also finished with nine rebounds, one steal and one block while turning the ball over just once in 26 minutes of on-court time.

He continues to show why he deserves to be on the court.

Best opponent performance:

It’s hard to argue against naming RJ Barrett as the best opponent performance when he drops 32 points on 57 percent shooting in 36 minutes.

Barrett got it done on both the court’s offensive and defensive ends, picking up three steals to go with his point total. He’s quickly becoming a stud in the NBA.

In closing:

It wasn’t the best game for the Thunder, but it also wasn’t the worst loss they’ve experienced this season.

In a season where the OKC Thunder haven’t been expected to win many games or even be competitive, they’ve far exceeded expectations.

The team continues to be exciting to watch, and they continue to improve with each game. As I’ve said many times before and will continue to say, the sky is the limit for this young team.