Top Performers From Oklahoma City's Loss to the Miami Heat
Oklahoma City was unable to overcome Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s off night against Miami.
The Thunder hung tough with the Heat for a half on Monday night at the Paycom Center, but were unable to solve the Heat’s defensive game plan in the second half.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot just 2-of-11 from the field, a rare outlier in an otherwise nice season for the fourth-year star.
Others picked up the slack, especially early, to keep the game close for a half as the young Thunder roster continues to develop.
Lu Dort
For the fourth straight game, Lu Dort has scored 20 or more points, the first time he’s done that in his young NBA career.
Dort’s offensive game continues to develop as he’s become a pretty nice finisher at the rim, and he’s now getting accustomed to getting off to fast offensive starts.
Gilgeous-Alexander often takes a step back in the first quarter and does his best to get others involved to start the game, and Dort has been the biggest beneficiary of that.
Dort scored 10 of his 20 points in the first quarter on 4-of-7 shooting, once again showing a steady stroke from 3-point range.
Josh Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander have drawn most of the attention from opposing defenses so far this season, and Dort continues to play within himself to make opposing teams pay for their lack of concern about the defensive stopper.
Aleksej Pokusevski
Aleksej Pokusevski shook off a rather pedestrian first half to help keep the Thunder within striking distance heading into the fourth quarter.
All seven of the Serbian’s third quarter points came in the final three minutes of the period, as the former first-round pick did a nice job of running the floor in transition and stepping back to drain a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Pokusevski’s scoring flurry punctuated a 12-4 Thunder run to close the quarter, cutting the Heat lead down to seven with 12 minutes still to play.
Oklahoma City’s investment in Pokusevski is paying off as he’s gone from borderline unplayable at times to a player who can pop up and give the Thunder some positive minutes on any given night, and his inconsistencies are still acceptable for a player who is still just 19-years-old.
The Pokusevski experience was always going to be a long-term project, but the flashes are starting to show more consistently of the matchup problem he can be for opposing teams.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Derrick Favors exited the lineup due to rest on Monday night, and Mike Muscala returned after missing the first night of OKC’s back-to-back, but Jeremiah Robinson-Earl held steady as the starting center.
The 2021 second-round pick rewarded Mark Daigneault’s trust with another solid performance on Monday night, though he didn’t have to contend with Miami’s Bam Adebayo.
Robinson-Earl isn’t going to wow anyone with his other-worldly athleticism, but he continues to prove he’s one of the most savvy players on the floor for his age, putting himself in great positions to be a positive for the Thunder on defense despite being undersized for his position.
And on the other end of the floor, he continues to prove to be a legitimate floor spacing option by knocking down 3-pointers.
Twelve of Robinson-Earl’s 16 points on the night came from beyond the arc, as the former Villanova big hit 4-of-6 attempts from deep.
Sam Presti’s decision to trade up to get Robinson-Earl at the beginning of the second round continues to look better and better as the year wears on, as he’s easily been OKC’s most consistent contributor at center.
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