OKC Thunder grades: Career-best by Bazley not enough to quell Wizards
The OKC Thunder continued their Eastern Conference road trip with a stop in Washington to face the Wizards and former franchise superstar and leader Russell Westbrook.
The result was another loss to extend the current losing streak to 11 games in a row.
That the team was even in this match is a testament to the young Thunder roster who was once again severely shorthanded and playing the second game of a back-to-back set.
Final. 107. 149. 119. 142
A night after Canadian Luguentz Dort put on a show with fellow Montreal player Chris Boucher in Tampa Bay he was sidelined with a hip injury. Isaiah Roby was also out meaning another different starting rotation for Mark Daigneault.
While Dort had a big week posting a career-high 42 point performance it was Darius Bazley that served up his own history-making performance in this match with a career-best 26 points.
Aleksej Pokusevski provided another jaw-dropping dime that had social media lighting up and the opposing team media crew ranting about his uniqueness.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed his 15th consecutive game a stretch in which the team has one win to show for their efforts.
Fatigue appeared to be an issue for the Thunder who fell behind by 13 points in the opening frame. OKC battled back to narrow the margin to six at the half. After the halftime break, the teams played relatively close with the Wizards winning each of the next two frames by three points to finish with a 12 point winning margin of 119-107.
Ultimately, this season is about witnessing the growth of the players and keeping an eye on each individual’s development. Some players are creating an argument for themselves to fill a significant role in the coming seasons.
In the interim, the team continues to lose which also isn’t a terrible outcome given that draft closest Sam Presti peeks into daily as he prepares to rebuild the franchise.
With that, let’s take a closer look at the Thunder players who participated in Washington with a view to their individual efforts…