Thunder Rookies Shine in OKC's Blowout Loss to the Lakers
In a matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, The Oklahoma City Thunder failed to win their third consecutive game. When it was all said and done, they fell by a final score of 116-95.
Oklahoma City got down early and things got ugly quick. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort both had off nights which didn't help the cause.
Here are some of the top performers from Friday night.
Tre Mann
Once again, Mann continues to impress. The Florida product is a scoring machine and makes it look so easy. On Friday night, he displayed crazy athleticism with maybe the best dunk of the year for the Thunder.
Mann provided 19 points in 27 minutes off the bench, including three 3-pointers. He continues to look better each time he touches the court and scores at a high clip. The rookie also had zero turnovers in extended minutes which is a very positive sign of his development.
Josh Giddey
Alonzo Adams / USA TODAY Sports
The only knock on Giddey's performance against the Lakers was that he went 0-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. Outside of that, though, Giddey played solid basketball and was a great facilitator.
On the night, he added 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Giddey is such a special player that even if his shot isn't falling, he still finds ways to be effective on the court.
The budding star has now recorded over five assists in the past four games. He's constantly getting better with more opportunities of being the lead guard.
Derrick Favors
Erik Williams / USA TODAY Sports
Favors, much like Mike Muscala, has seen his role change quite a bit this year. Tonight, he only played 12 minutes, but was the most effective player on the floor when he was in.
The veteran record nine points on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Favors is only averaging 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, so it was impressive to see him fill the stat sheet in only 12 minutes of action.
While Favors missed his lone 3-point attempt, it's clear that he's been working to add that to his game.
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