With Shai-Gilgeous Alexander out again with the ankle injury he suffered against the Boston Celtics, OKC Thunder hosted one of the Western Conference juggernauts in the Utah Jazz.
The game saw this year’s 56th pick Aaron Wiggins receive the first start of his career. We also saw the return of Theo Maledon who the Thunder recalled from the OKC Blue.
OKC led at the half 52-49 and was able to stave off the Jazz for as long as they possibly could. The game remained tight to the very end. When a game is as close as this one was, however, experience tends to shine through as the Jazz looked to pull away.
Specifically, at the five-minute mark in the fourth a floater from Jordan Clarkson to make it 97-94 followed by a steal and fastbreak layup from Rudy Gobert to make it 99-94.
The OKC Thunder battled hard from start to finish, making Utah earn every point and hustling on every possession. Josh Giddey tied the game 101-101 with a three at 2.35 remaining in the fourth.
From this point, the Thunder could not score again until Giddey made another three to bring the score to 104-107. Experience in the very end did prevail, with key offensive plays from Mitchell and a big charge call from Gobert to seal the game.
OKC Thunder takeaways from the game
OKC’s defense overall continues to outperform what you would expect from such a young team. Wings get you wins, and OKC’s long wingspans were able to disrupt the Jazz for much of the game, harassing the perimeter players Donovan Mitchell, Clarkson, and Bojan Bogdanovic as much as possible.
The Sixth Man of the year candidate last year Joe Ingles was held to just 1 of 6 from the field. The Thunder benefitted from Utah’s slow shooting night as the Jazz went 15/47 (31.9%) from the perimeter, but the Jazz is one of the best teams in the NBA, found more ways to score.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had one of his most interesting games at center, working against 3x DPOY Rudy Gobert. The rookie spread the floor, scoring three 3-pointers and notching ten rebounds.
While Gobert isn’t known for his offensive prowess, JRE spent much of the defensive game battling under the basket with him with relative success. Many of Gobert’s 15 points came when JRE wasn’t marking him.
Darius Bazley continues his insane blocking with three blocks in the game, including an incredible block at the rim on Rudy Gobert. Adding that to his blocks on Giannis last week, Bazley could have a great highlight reel for the season at this rate.
With Shai out, the other members of the young core (Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, and Bazley) saw extended usage.
Lu Dort’s transformation into an offensive option this year continues as he notched 27 points in the contest and was the OKC Thunder player of the game. His aggressiveness in attacking the rim is proving invaluable for a Thunder team that can struggle to score.
The ‘when will Josh Giddey get his first triple-double’ wait continues after he stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists.
If you hadn’t heard either, Giddey now joins Lamelo Ball and Lebron James as the only teenagers to ever log 100 rebounds and 100 assists in their first 20 games.
OKC will next play the Washington Wizards on 11/26 for the second game of their homestand.