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Thunder Cornerstones Shined Against Mavericks

Oklahoma City dropped its second straight home game Sunday night against the Mavericks.

The Thunder struggled to score all night as they dropped a conference game to the Mavericks 103-84 Sunday night in OKC.

It seemed like the Thunder hung around all game but could never quite get over the hump. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Dallas was able to put the game away. It was impressive that OKC was even in the game at any point in the second half after finishing the night shooting just 37.5%.

The Thunder played the second half without Lu Dort, as the defensive specialist was ruled out with an ankle sprain. Dort was having an efficient night with 10 first half points and two 3-pointers before. Coach Mark Daigneault had no update on the severity or time-table after the game, but the Thunder clearly missed him on the court.

Outside of the poor shooting, Oklahoma City got killed on the glass. As a team, the Thunder were out-rebounded 54 to 39. OKC struggled to implement a post presence outside of Darius Bazley, as all three Maverick big men were in double-figures. Kristaps Porzingis had 13 points on an off night, Maxi Kleber scored an impressive 16, and former Thunder big man Moses Brown finished with 15.

It was a rough night all around for Oklahoma City, but here are the best individual performances of the night:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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By his standards, Gilgeous-Alexander didn't have a great game. But he was aggressive and continuously attacked the basket. He was active defensively, too, recording two blocks on the night.

The Thunder star finished the game with 18 points, five assists and four rebounds. While he didn't have a great shooting night, just 6-for-15, it was encouraging to see him continue to shoot the ball and play through is struggles.

Gilgeous-Alexander is at his best when he's playing aggressive. Sometimes, he can get caught up in the flow of the game and play a somewhat passive style of offense. Sunday night, he was in attack mode from the beginning.

Darius Bazley

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Bazley's numbers from a box-score standpoint weren't eye popping. He limited his mistakes on the offensive end and had a strong impact on the game defensively.

Bazley let the game come to him Sunday and didn't force any shots. He was also one of the most efficient shooters from 3-point range, knocking down three triples. On the night, Bazley finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

He had some elite defensive sequences on Porzingis, who shot just 6-of-17 overall from the floor. The 21-year-old forward had three blocks, as he was the Thunder's only real source of post defense.

Oklahoma City continues its stretch of home games, as they take on the Pelicans at the Paycom Center Wednesday night at 7 p.m.


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