The Thunder lost this one by a margin of 20 points and it was actually a battle until the end. Several Thunder players had pretty good games and it was a welcome sight to see Shai Gilgeous Alexander get back there. The following article is a Thunder VS. Suns recap.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Performance
Alexander made his long-awaited return to the lineup and made some noise. It was another great game where he finished with 32 points, two boards, five dimes and six turnovers on 13/22 from the field, 1/5 from the three-point line and 5/6 from the line. The lack of peripherals and high turnovers were a drag but he was scoring at will in this one. After losing the first quarter 31-14, the Thunder won the second quarter 31-17. Unfortunately, the Thunder lost the final frame 39-27, resulting in a 20-point loss. Despite the loss, Alexander did his best to will this team a win. Expect a healthy Gilgeous-Alexander to lead this team in scoring on most nights.
Josh Giddey Performance
Gidedy stuffed the stat-sheet as per usual. He went for a nice line of 15 points, nine boards, six assists, two steals and four turnovers on 7/15 from the field, 0/3 from three and 1/1 from the line. His first game back from the break, he did not disappoint despite the lack of aggression due to a returning Gilgeous-Alexander. It doesn’t matter too much, though because of how much he contributes to this team that doesn’t include scoring. Expect him to continue racking up the numbers that an aggressive Russell Westbrook would.
Tre Mann Performance
Mann had another nice game in which he accumulated 11 points, five boards, six dimes, four swipes and zero turnovers on 5/13 from the field and 1/6 from three. The young rookie is getting much better day in and day out. Over the two weeks, Mann has been averaging 15 points, two threes, three rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.2 blocks and just 0.2 turnovers on 41% from the field and 82% from the line. He came off the bench this time, but he still played 30 minutes. Expect Mann to continue putting up nice scoring numbers with a sprinkle of peripherals.
Isaiah Roby Performance
Roby is one of the more exciting prospects on this squad who’s finally getting more playing time. This time, he played 25 minutes off the bench and put up nine points, one board, two assists, one block and no turnovers on 4/9 from the field and 1/5 from three. He had a very pedestrian line this time but the fact that he put up nine shots and five threes was encouraging. Last season, Roby showed that he was an all-around forward that’s capable of putting up 5×5 lines. Just remember, per 36 minutes, Roby is averaging 16.3 points, 8.2 boards, 1.7 dimes, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks a game.
Darius Bazley Performance
Bazley had been on fire lately, but he hit rock bottom this time around. He put up a mediocre line of two points, six rebounds, one assist, one block and two turnovers on 1/4 from the field and 0/3 from three. He may be back on one of his cold spells because he put up just two points, three rebounds, four assists and two turnovers on 1/6 shooting in his last game. Expect him to hopefully turn it around because he really had it going over the last month.