The OKC Thunder wrapped up their homestand by welcoming the Houston Rockets to the Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City on Wednesday Night. The team looks forward to an off-day on Thursday, before back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics respectively this weekend.
After a two-game losing skid at the hands of two of the Eastern Conference Contenders the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder got back on track topping the Houston Rockets 101-89.
Lu Dort lifts OKC Thunder to win over the Houston Rockets
The game started with the Oklahoma City Thunder offense scoring at will before the Houston defense stiffened. The Thunder controlled this game for 48-minutes, never relinquishing the lead to the Rockets, despite a few scrappy Rockets runs. The game was only ever tied twice, and it served as the first drama-free win for the OKC Thunder this season.
Oklahoma City once led by 17-points won the battle on the boards 56 rebounds to just 46, the Rockets gave the ball away four more times than the Thunder. OKC swatted six shots, won the fastbreak category 13-4 and dominated in the paint to the tune of a 54-50 advantage despite Houston having the upper hand with Christian Wood.
The OKC Thunder defense forced Houston to shoot a lowly 35-percent from the floor, 28-percent from deep, while the OKC offense turned in 44-percent from the floor, and 28-percent from distance.
Lu Dort, who was a nominee for the Western Conference Player of the week award, is the story of tonight. He posted 34-points, eight rebounds, two assists, a block, and just one turnover. Dort turned in 63-percent from the floor and 36-percent from three. This is the fifth straight game Lu Dort was poured in 20+ points, the longest such stretch of his career.
The undrafted guard still put on a defensive masterclass with his elite skills while being the focal point of the team’s offense. While the Arizona State product is on a heater right now, the question that must be answered is: How long will this last? Is this the new norm? What is Lu Dort’s ceiling? Those questions will be answered in time, but this new offensive outburst is a welcomed sign.
Josh Giddey, the prized OKC Thunder rookie, gave fans a double-double to enjoy on this Wednesday Night. 11-rebounds, ten of which came on the defensive end to go along with his 14-points, and two assists, although the dimes were jaw-dropping. Giddey ending possessions by crashing the defensive boards is huge for Mark Daigneault’s squad who want to play small and push the tempo.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another inefficient night amid his huge winning impact racking up nine assists, four steals, seven rebounds, and 15 points but on poor shooting splits, 33-percent from the floor, and just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. As SGA continues to put up good counting stats, this has not been a great week from the max contract player when it comes to his shooting percentages.
Though, it is still too early to be concerned about SGA’s dip inefficiency as we still have a larger sample size of off-the-charts shooting splits than tough nights shooting the basketball. As the OKC Thunder Bench Boss Mark Daigneault said “careful not to overreact to game-to-game shooting percentages” adding those outcomes are “mostly random.” The shooter often can not control the way the ball bounces on the rim, so it is more about the process and grade of the shot selection than percentages night in and night out.
OKC earned another win before a very tough road trip that sees them take the defending champion Bucks and a desperate Celtics team. Who was your MVP from tonight’s contest?