Grading the Thunder starters:
Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the best players in the entire NBA to start this season. He’s averaging 31.1 points per game with a 63.4 true shooting percentage. He dropped 37 points, and eight assists, grabbed three steals, and swatted two shots. SGA controlled his game, especially in the third quarter. He also knocked down two of his three attempts from deep. Just another fantastic game in Shai’s All-NBA campaign.
Josh Giddey made history by joining Wilt Chamberlain, as the only player in NBA history to record a triple-double in their first two games in Madison Square Garden. Giddey dropped 24 points along with 12 assists and 10 rebounds, recording his first triple-double of the season. A performance nothing short of phenomenal.
Lu Dort played great in this game, scoring a season-high 24 points. Dort has struggled with efficiency so far this season, but not in this game. He had eight of his 11 field goal attempts and knocked down two threes. He got in some foul trouble early on and finished with five on the game, but overall one of Dort’s best games this season, if not the best.
The Thunder have not had a consistent starting lineup so far this year, but Pokusevski received his seventh start of the year against the Knicks. He played pretty solid, scoring 12 points and shooting 62.5 percent from the field. He did have a couple of sloppy turnovers and dropped passes, but overall a pretty good game from Poku.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl did an amazing job of spacing the floor for the Thunder. Seemed like every time a Thunder guard drove to the basket and found nothing, they kicked it out to JRE for a three-pointer. He splashed three of his four attempts from deep, scoring 17 points on the night. He hauled down seven rebounds and played pretty good defense in an OKC lineup that lacks size against a Knicks team that rolled out two big-men lineups. Very good game from JRE.