The OKC Thunder entered the Intuit Dome on Sunday night to take on the Los Angeles Clippers.
Both teams were searching for their sixth straight win, but it was Oklahoma City who left victorious. The Clippers were no pushover, however, as the game went down to the wire, finishing as a a one-score game.
Here are the studs and duds from the matchup:
Stud: Aaron Wiggins
Despite Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams sitting out due to injuries, Aaron Wiggins didn't receive the starting nod. This didn't affect his level of play, however, as he still managed to pour in 19 points off the bench while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from distance.
The wing's growth as a creator has been tremendous now in year four, allowing him to grow into a Swiss Army Knife, plugging into any role the team needs him in.
After the Clippers took a 12-point lead in the second quarter, it was Wiggins who spearheaded a 13-0 run to snatch the lead back, scoring seven points in five minutes. He then opened up the fourth quarter by outscoring the Clippers 7-4 himself in the first five minutes of the period.
His big time scoring runs were enough to earn him the Riverwind Casino Player of the Game.
Stud: The big men
Isaiah Hartenstein held down the fort as the lone starting big, given that Holmgren was ruled out with a hip strain. The seven-footer earned his team-leading 27th double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also tacked on 6 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.
His backup, Jaylin Williams, continued his hot streak in the month of March. The third-year big notched 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting, along with hauling in 7 rebounds in 14:56 minutes of play.
The performance marks Williams's fifth double-digit scoring game of the month, the highest for any month of his career.
Each of the Thunder's regular rotation bigs in Holmgren, Hartenstein and Williams have dealt with injuries this season. Healthy and serviceable play from the trio will boost the roster's versatility exponentially.
Dud: Free throw volume
Through the first 28:30 of game time, Gilgeous-Alexander was the only Thunder player to attempt a free throw, notching seven attempts.
Alex Caruso broke the spell, knocking down one of his two attempts. The team finished with 20 overall, eight less than the Clippers' total of 28. Even more concerning, Gilgeous-Alexander accounted for 11 of those 20, showing struggle from the rest of the team in that department.
The lack of free throw attempts from the roster aside from its leading scorer draws worthy concern to the offense. Due to this consistently low volume, the Thunder rank 27th in the league in free throws attempted per night, with 20.2.
Given that the team has the best percentage in the league, it'd be a strong bonus addition to the offense to have more shots at the charity stripe.
Bit of both: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The MVP frontrunner continued his scoring rampage, and this time it was the Clippers who fell victim.
In a 26-point performance, Gilgeous-Alexander tied Kevin Durant's longstanding record of 64 consecutive games with 20 or more points scored. He also nailed the game-clinching free throws, extending the Thunder lead to 103-100 in the final seconds of the game.
However, his usual high level of efficiency was nowhere to be seen on the night.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with just a 24.1 percent shooting clip, his least efficient scoring outing since March 9, 2022.
His impact goes beyond scoring the ball, as exhibited against LA. Gilgeous-Alexander dished out 8 assists, along with snagging 2 steals and a block.
While he once again etched his name in the Thunder history books, Gilgeous-Alexander's performance didn't quite meet his MVP standard.