In one of the more surprising things to happen this season, the Thunder took down the visiting Lakers 123-115. It was an all-around effort from the boys in blue and orange. Darius Bazley and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 47 points and four others scored in double digits. Not only did they win this game, but the coaching staff also got a great look at their youthful talent in the process.
Gilgeous-Alexander had a fantastic game, going for a solid 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and only two turnovers in 38 minutes. He struggle a bit shooting the ball as he went 7-19 from the field, but he still shot a solid 5/11 on three’s and 8/10 from the line. Another minor bugaboo was that he didn’t have any defensive stats. Besides that, he still led his young team to their first win of the season. It was against the Lakers, too so this team deserves a ton of credit.
Finally, what everyone’s been waiting for: Bazley had a good offensive showing. Bazley had a nice stat line to end the game: 20 points, six boards, two dimes, four steals and a block. He shot an efficient 8/14 from the field and sank 4/8 threes in the process. Bazley had been struggling to shoot the ball all season long so playing against a porous and Lebron-less Lakers team is just what the doctor ordered. Hopefully, this game gets him going and he continues to go on a run.
Giddey had an exceptional game against the visiting Lakers. He had a nice 18-point, two-rebound, 10-assist (career-high), one-steal stat-line. Giddey just continues to put up promising lines like this one and it makes people wonder just how good he can be. Once he gets a consistent jump-shot and more confidence, he is going to be an absolute stud for this club. Playing professionally overseas helped his playmaking and offensive capabilities tremendously.
Roby finally had a good game as well, going for 13 points on 4/5 shooting. He rounded out his line with two rebounds, one assist and a 3-pointer. It’s still an underwhelming line but the fact that he got his shots to drop is a very good sign. Before the season started, he was projected to have a decent-sized role due to the departure of Moses Brown but that hasn’t been the case, unfortunately. Roby’s minutes have been very erratic this year, including a DNP just the game before this one. If he can carve out a consistent role due to resting vets, he could have a nicer role going forward along with teammate Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
This was not the performance people were expecting. Poku finished the game with only seven minutes played and just one turnover to his credit. He also shot just 0/2 from the field. It can’t get any worse than this and if he wants to have a bigger role in the rotation, he needs to play better. It doesn’t help that minutes have been very tight, but he still needs to prove that he can go out there and make a difference. He was another player that was expected to have a nice role this season due to a promising rookie season and this happens. It’s just very unfortunate.
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