Top Performers From OKC's Wire to Wire Victory Over Houston
Oklahoma City’s early-season momentum continued on Wednesday night.
Avenging their loss from the second game of the season, the Thunder toppled a hopeless Houston Rockets team 101-98.
Even more encouraging for OKC is that the Thunder led wire-to-wire despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having another off night offensively.
The fourth-year star finished second on the team in scoring, but 18 shots to notch 15 points on the night, a departure from the efficiency Gilgeous-Alexander has shown most of the season.
But Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t need to steal the show due to another excellent performance from his fellow Canadian.
Lu Dort
Known for his defensive prowess, Lu Dort continues to surprise offensively.
His performance against Houston marked the fifth straight 20-plus point performance, and it was by far his largest scoring outburst of the season.
Dominating at the rim and knocking down open 3-pointers, Dort led all scorers with 34 points on the night, also adding eight rebounds, two assists and a block.
OKC coach Mark Daigneault said over this hot scoring stretch, there have still been times where the former undrafted free agent has been out of control driving to the bucket, but he said Dort played completely under control against the Rockets.
Dort is always going to play defense at a high level, but if he can continue this growth on the offensive end of the floor, he may develop into a legitimate top three option in the NBA, a feather in the cap of Thunder general manager Sam Presti, who may have found another piece for his eventual playoff roster outside of the first-round of the draft.
Josh Giddey
Another guy Daigneault pointed out as playing much more under control on Wednesday night was No. 6-overall pick Josh Giddey.
As defenses have adjusted to the young Australian, he’s struggled a bit.
Coming into the matchup with the Rockets, Giddey had failed to score in double figures in six straight games, but he ended that streak on Wednesday night.
Posting the second double-double of his career, Giddey scored 14 points while still pulling down 11 boards and dishing out a pair of assists.
While he’s not the most consistent 3-point shooter, Giddey has found a way to make his length and basketball IQ work for him in the mid-range and driving to the rack, as he only attempted two 3’s, finishing 7-of-14 from the field.
Daigneault said he’s been especially impressed with how Giddey is adjusting to the speed of the game, and how quickly he can make adjustments in practice based off what he’s seeing on film.
The Thunder are just 14 games into the NBA season, but the sky is the limit for what Giddey could be by the end of his first NBA campaign.
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