Josh Giddey caps off fantastic December despite 76ers loss

The Oklahoma City Thunder continued the tradition of hosting a home tilt on New Year’s Eve with this year’s matchup bringing the 76ers to town to take on the Bricktown boys. In a sluggish game that saw the OKC Thunder get down by as many as 33 points, Josh Giddey capped off the best month of his career with another great game.

The OKC Thunder have struggled without a big man as Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Chet Holmgren are all on the shelf after being bit by the injury bug, and it has resulted in two straight games of the team giving up 66 points in the paint.

The Oklahoma City Thunder saw Josh Giddey cap off the best month of his career as 2022 comes to a close with a blowout loss to the 76ers in the Paycom Center

Josh Giddey was one of the only bright spots in this contest against the Philadelphia 76ers who did not have James Harden or Tyrese Maxey for this game. Giddey capped off the best month of his career with a 20-point, nine rebounds, and two assist effort adding a steal and a block on the defensive end while shooting 60 percent from the floor and 1-for-3 from distance. For the “well how many turnovers?” crowd, Giddey only had one giveaway against the 76ers.

This continued a trend of Giddey’s hot December, the best month of his young career which is only 85 games old. In the final month of 2022, Giddey averaged nearly 16 points (15.8), nine rebounds, and five assists per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor, 43 percent from three-point land, and 90 percent at the free throw line.

In December, Giddey averaged less than three turnovers per game, and seven double-doubles. The Thunder went 6-7 in the month.

Josh Giddey showed great efficiency shooting the ball at all three levels, including at the rim, with his elite playmaking still jumping out, and much-improved defense. Throughout the month, Giddey also had his best connection with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the duos small sample size.

Rookie Jalen Williams posted 17 points, three rebounds, an assist, two steals, and a block in this game while shooting 60 percent from the floor including 3-for-4 from three-point land.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander labored his way to 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists on just 26 percent shooting from the floor and only being granted eight free throw attempts in this contest.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a glaring issue down low, and the problem will not be fixed internally for a long time with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl still weeks away, Aleksej Pokusevski on the shelf for at least 6-to-8 weeks, and Chet Holmgren out for the season. What is the next step for OKC?