The Oklahoma City Thunder battled the Washington Wizards in their second to last NBA Summer League game on Friday night. The OKC Thunder saw their youngsters play well despite the loss to the Wizards.
The Washington Wizards got out and ran to a 105-89 win with a solid second half on Friday. Washington dominated from beyond the arc connecting on 57 percent of their trey balls, 53 percent of their shots from the floor, and making the Thunder pay on 77 percent from the free throw line. Oklahoma City had 41/39/75 shooting splits in the loss. The Wizards also dominated 18-2 on the fast break and won points in the paint 42-38.
The OKC Thunder youngsters played well against the Washington Wizards despite losing in the second to last Summer League game.
The one remarkable thing the OKC Thunder did as a team was cut down on their turnovers, only giving the ball away nine times in this contest. That is by far the fewest giveaways from their entire Summer League stretch. OKC generated five fewer assists and rebounds than the Wizards in this contest which helped Washington preserve the lead after it changed hands nine times.
Bilal Coulibaly, who many thought would be a member of the OKC Thunder during the pre-draft process, turned in 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, and swatted four shots. Coulibaly was one of five Wizards to rack up double-digit points. Perhaps the only disappointment for Washington was the quiet game from Patrick Baldwin Jr. At one point in the pre-draft process, I had Baldwin top-five in his class before injury issues derailed his college career. He was hardly noticeable on the floor in this contest.
So, as always, let’s grade the OKC Thunder starters and bench for this contest.