Both teams were marred by injuries, but it was still a high-scoring affair between the two. Despite the high scoring, the Thunder lost 103-113. Some players from the Thunder side really took advantage of the high minutes. Here is the Thunder Vs. Kings Recap.
Josh Giddey Performance
Giddey had a phenomenal game, scoring a career-high 24 points on 10/19 from the field, 1/5 from three and 3/5 from the free-throw line. He rounded out his line with four boards, eight assists and four turnovers. Giddey got to be the main scorer this time as the team was without leading scorers Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and boy he did not disappoint. The rookie out of Australia is looking much better than anyone anticipated. Expect the Rookie of the Year candidate to continue putting up fun numbers as the leading guard for the Thunder.
Darius Bazley Performance
Bazley put up a solid line as well, putting up 18 points, seven rebounds, one assist and three steals on 6/14 from the field, 1/3 from three and 5/6 from the free-throw line. Bazley is finding his rhythm offensively finally and he’s looking much more comfortable. Over the last month, he has been averaging 10.4 points, 6.7 boards, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals and one block a game on 44% from the field and 84% from the line. It’s extremely nice to see Bazley hit his shots after starting the season off on a horrific shooting bender. Now that he has his efficiency under control, expect him to put up nice averages for the remainder of the season. Hopefully, he remains a reliable source of offense.
Tre Mann Performance
Mann had a pretty alright night. He finished with 16 points, three boards, three dimes, one steal and two turnovers on 6/18 from the field, 3/9 from three and 1/2 from the line. The high volume was nice to see as he is a rookie who needs to learn to develop through mistakes. This was definitely a nice example of that as he was inefficient but that’s expected of young guns like himself. He’s going to have no shortage of opportunities so expect him to continue putting up high-scoring totals mixed in with bad inefficiency.
Aleksej Pokusesvki Performance
A Poku sighting! He had one of his better games of the season as he put up 12 points, nine boards, three assists and one turnover on 5/9 from the field and 2/5 from three. Poku has played very sparingly this season after having one of the better rookie seasons last year. It’s a weird situation, but maybe after the all-star break, he can gain some more minutes if the Thunder decide to make some moves. Poku needs experience and development, so his potential still remains high on this team.
Theo Maledon Performance
Maledon, much like Poku, has been used sparingly in the rotation this year after having a promising rookie campaign a season ago. He put up nine points, one board, one assist and one foul on 4/5 shooting and made his only three. Maybe Maledon can pop up in the rotation later on in the season but until then, he’s going to be a negligent part. At least he had a good game against the Kings, though.