Thunder can’t climb back against Grizzlies in road trip finale

The Oklahoma City Thunder finished off their four-game road trip with a 121-110 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his worst game of the season so far, while Jaren Jackson Jr. shines for the Grizzlies in his second game of the season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder fall to 7-9 on the season following a tough loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies started off the game on a 14-2 run, but OKC did not go away easily. However, the Thunder were never able to stick around for long. Every time the Thunder would climb back into single digits, the Grizzlies would go on a run of their own to extend their lead back to double digits.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t had much trouble scoring the ball so far this year, but he couldn’t seem to get things going against the Grizzlies. SGA finished with 15 points, six assists, and six rebounds while shooting just 6-of-18 from the field. Easily his worst game of the season so far, likely as a result of great Memphis defense, as well as fatigue.

With Shai struggling, the supporting cast had to step up. Aleksej Pokusevski was having a spectacular game before coming down with an ankle injury in the first half. Poku posted 10 points on a perfect 100 percent from the field and from three in just 14 minutes of play. Not to mention his three first-quarter blocks.

For Memphis, Jackson Jr. set the tone early on both sides of the ball. JJJ also had three blocks on the night, to go along with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson Jr. suffered a torn meniscus over the summer and played in just his second game of his season against the Thunder and played spectacularly.

After having a rough first half, Josh Giddey bounced back and posted 20 points and 11 assists on the night, but his 0-for-4 from three hurt the Thunder down the stretch.

With Shai getting double and triple-teamed all night, Jalen Williams played a lot of possessions as the primary ball handler, and he played very well. Williams scored 16 points and dished out seven assists.

With about three minutes left and the Thunder within single digits, Ja Morant exited the game with an ankle injury. The door was wide open for the Thunder to take advantage and try to steal a game on the road, but multiple missed threes in the final minutes ended OKC’s chances of pulling off the comeback and taking the lead.

The Thunder will thankfully get two days of rest following four games on the road in just six days. They look to recharge ahead of their matchup with the New York Knicks in Oklahoma City