OKC Thunder: Player grades in loss to hot-handed Hawks

The OKC Thunder outlasted the Atlanta Hawks in late February and looked for another win against the Hawks on Thursday night. But the Hawks are a much-improved team since then, having won six consecutive games heading into their matchup with the Thunder.

The Hawks made it seven straight on Thursday.

It wasn’t a good night for the Thunder, or at least it wasn’t a good night for the starters.

Isaiah Roby was the only starter to eclipse the 50 percent shooting mark. Roby and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were the only two Thunder players to shoot better than 40 percent. Every other starter hit 25 percent or less of their shots.

The Thunder shot 36.2 percent as a team, but that number would have been much lower if not for the bench. And while the shooting performance was one of the worst for the OKC Thunder this season, the Hawks’ defense deserves a lot of praise.

That Hawks were able to take a potentially potent Thunder offense and render it ineffective for much of the game.

Gilgeous-Alexander was the only Thunder player to play a full 12 minutes in the opening frame, but the Thunder’s offense sputtered even with him on the court, scoring just 21 points while giving up 31 to the Hawks.

SGA made just one of his first nine shots in the game, which certainly didn’t help the Thunder. The typically ultra-reliable Al Horford also struggled, making just two of his first 10 shots.

With all the Thunder starters falling well short of average in the first half, the Hawks were in prime position to blow the Thunder out. And that’s exactly what Atlanta did in the end.

With that being said, let’s dive into the grades for the starting lineup of the OKC Thunder.