Gilgeous-Alexander, Bench Pieces Propel Thunder in Loss to Kings

Oklahoma City struggled to find defensive success in the second half in a 131-110 loss to the Kings.

Despite the 21-point loss the Thunder’s offense found some success, but was unable to stick around with a better Kings team.

With Josh Giddey, Lu Dort and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl still sidelined with injuries, the Thunder had to turn to different faces for points and rhythm.

Here’s who stood out.

Olivier Sarr

Olivier Sarr, the only true center in the Thunder rotation for Monday’s game, made his presence felt when he was on the court.

The 7-footer, who typically plays for the Oklahoma City Blue, found himself playing 26 minutes in the game due to injuries and missing rotational pieces. Sarr scored 12 points on an impressive 5-for-8 shooting night off of the bench.

Sarr also made an impact on the glass grabbing four rebounds in the game, which was third-highest on the team behind Gilgeous-Alexander and Aleksej Pokusevski.

Sarr hasn’t played much for the Thunder this season, but Monday he played with a purpose in an attempt to earn a bigger role with the organization.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

The Thunder box score would be grim without the game Gilgeous-Alexander displayed on Monday.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points in the game after an explosive first three quarters. Gilgeous-Alexander was also efficient on the night, finishing 12-of-16 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

With the 37 points, he notched a double-double with 10 assists on the night, showcasing his ability to both score and distribute, a key making of a star.

Gilgeous-Alexander also grabbed seven rebounds, narrowly missing a triple-double.

Aleksej Pokusevski

Pokusevski has been a project for Oklahoma City since he was drafted and he is slowly showing improvements, which has earned him increasingly bigger roles.

With the Thunder experimenting with the wing and the post positions, the 7-footer has been showing his worth to the coaching staff and it continued Monday night.

Pokusevski scored nine points off of the bench for the Thunder while shooting 4-for-12 on the night. He also added a team-high eight rebounds to help keep OKC competitive on the glass as the Kings pulled away in the second half.

The nine points ended his streak of three straight double-digit games.

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