Handing Out Game Balls From the Thunder's 126-98 Loss in Sacramento
The Oklahoma City Thunder struggles continued as they entered the Sacramento portion of their road trip, dropping their second game of the season to the Kings 126-98 on Sunday night.
As has become the norm, Luguentz Dort was held out on the second night of OKC’s back-to-back as the team hopes he will not aggravate his hip strain any further for the rest of the season.
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Whether Dort has been in the lineup or not, the Thunder defense has struggled mightily as of late, allowing Sacramento to knock down nearly 53 percent of their attempts from the field.
A few Thunder players showed out on the offensive end of the floor, however, trying to keep OKC in the game as the regular season winds down.
Game Ball: Jaylen Hoard
For the second straight game, forward Jaylen Hoard brought some nice energy to the contest off of the Oklahoma City bench. The second-leading scorer for the Thunder on the night, Hoard scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, smartly picking his shots against the Kings.
Hoard also did a nice job of continuing to attack the basket, getting to the free throw line five times.
Not just working hard on one end of the floor, Hoard anchored the defense in his 22 minutes of action, pulling down five rebounds and swiping a pair of steals.
A guy who hasn’t seen many consistent minutes since signing with OKC, Hoard will continue to get looks from Mark Daigneault off the bench in Oklahoma City’s remaining games if he can continue to make all the hustle plays in the final few games on the schedule.
Game Ball: Aleksej Pokusevski
With Moses Brown and Isaiah Roby in the starting lineup, Thunder rookie Aleksej Pokusevski was afforded the opportunity to play out on the wing alongside Darius Bazley and Theo Maledon.
Though continuing to struggle shooting from beyond the arc, Pokusevski was good everywhere else. Scoring 13 points, Pokusevski shot 5-of-11 from the floor (and 3-of-4 from inside the arc), while doing a little bit of playmaking.
Dishing out five assists, Pokusevski continues to be a fearless passer, constantly looking to create for his teammates.
He still needs to cut his turnovers down, as he surrendered possession three times, but he has remained confident as he’s improved throughout the season.
