Grading Thunder Players After Friday’s Loss at Memphis

The Thunder finished off a four-game road trip on Friday evening with a 121-110 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies physically dominated the Thunder for long portions of the game. They shot 40 free throws to the Thunder’s 11 and won the rebounding battle 57-43. They also outscored the Thunder on fast break points 30-6.

It was a strange night for the Thunder in many respects. After all of the positive attention from the national media in recent days, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was held to his lowest point total of the season. He scored only 15 points on 6-18 shooting. Despite Shai’s struggles, the Thunder were able to stay in the game thanks to 45 bench points and a strong showing from rookie Jalen Williams.

The beginning of the game felt similar to Wednesday night’s game in Washington. The Thunder struggled out of the gate and was down 19-5 with 7:37 left in the first quarter. They eventually settled in, bringing the game within three points multiple times before the end of the first quarter. The teams stayed close through the second quarter, with Memphis taking a four-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Memphis threatened to pull away multiple times during the third quarter. They pulled ahead by 11 points with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter, but the Thunder refused to go down quietly. They chipped away at Memphis’s lead down the stretch and had a chance to make it a one-possession game on a Josh Giddey free throw with 2:38 left in the game. Memphis responded with John Konchar’s fifth three-pointer of the night to take a seven-point lead after Giddey missed the and-one attempt.

Click over to the next slide to read our breakdown of each Thunder starter’s performance during the game.