The OKC Thunder wrapped up their three-game eastern conference road swing with a Monday matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. The Organization was already down their head coach, Mark Daigneault, who did not travel with the team on this road trip as he and his wife, Ashley, prepare for the birth of their child. This evening, they were dealt another blow, losing their star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to an ankle injury.
Dave Bliss, who slid down a chair in Daigneault’s absence, elected to start a big lineup, moving sixth overall pick Josh Giddey to the point guard slot, keeping Lu Dort at the two, but moving Darius Bazley to the small forward position while starting both Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Derrick Favors. This group had not seen action together entering Monday, but they pulled together for a competitive matchup.
OKC Thunder fall to the Atlanta Hawks, 113-101, to see their losing streak swell to three games
Josh Giddey got his chance tonight to be the lone ball-handler and the true point guard of the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is a role he is much more comfortable in, even going as far as to say pre-draft, he had never played with another ball-handler in Australia. Tonight, the 19-year-old got put on an early triple-double alert.
If he would have accomplished it, he would’ve been the youngest NBA player in the league’s history to log a triple-double but still has until the 60 game mark during this Thunder season to break the record currently held by LaMelo Ball.
Giddey, finished with 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds on nice shooting splits going 46-percent from the floor but could not get a trey ball to fall. Giddey also got a steal and two blocks while still only turning the ball over three times in his 31-minutes.
Even while playing next to a traditional center, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl continued to thrive going for 13 points, ten rebounds, an assist, steal and block. JRE shot 40-percent from three, and 44-percent from the floor.
The OKC Thunder offense saw five in double-figures, two more chipping in nine points, for a balanced scoring attack. The difference tonight was the lack of three-point shooting. The Oklahoma City Thunder shot a lowly 26-percent from distance while the Atlanta Hawks blitzed in 14 3’s to the tune of a 40-percent clip from the three-point arc.
Despite a scrappy first half, the Thunder had a second-half lull seeing the Hawks grow a 22-point lead before OKC eventually brought the game back to a more respectable margin. The Thunder won the battle of the glass, had just one more turnover than Atlanta, two fewer points in the paint, and more second-chance points in this contest.
The true difference was the aforementioned shooting splits from three-point land, and the fact the Hawks were better in transition, gaining an 11-2 fast-break advantage. The former-Oklahoma Sooner Trae Young posted a 30 point night with six assists and four rebounds on good shooting splits especially stroking 55-percent from beyond the arc.