OKC Thunder's Jalen Williams, Bench Unit Not Enough to Defeat Detroit Pistons in Nail-Biter

In its second meeting against the Detroit Pistons during the preseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost once again in a 118-116 contest that came down to the very last second.

Jalen Williams was the star for the Thunder without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, scoring a team-high 20 points with five assists on 7-for-15 shooting. It was one of the forward's strongest showings of the preseason, heading into the regular season with momentum.

Giddey was not far behind, dropping 14 points, seven assists and seven rebounds on the night. All of Giddey's strengths were on display, driving in the lane at will to score the ball or kick it out to a teammate. He struggled at the free-throw line – only shooting 4-of-8 – but eventually the conversion will come around.

The bench unit arguably contributed the most in Oklahoma City's loss, as the trio of Davis Bertans, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace combined for 32 total points.

Vasilije Micic also gave a solid performance, scoring eight points and recording six assists. The EuroLeague veteran showed off his strong playmaking ability, working particularly well with Holmgren on multiple occasions.

The game started out with a fairly close 1st quarter, ending with a 27-23 lead for the Pistons. Ausar Thompson scored nine points on 3-for-6 shooting in the quarter, but the Thunder's Jalen Williams matched him with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

The second quarter saw Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren dominating, scoring all 10 of his points on the night. He also showed off his defensive ability in the paint by recording three blocks in the half, including a denial of a Jayden Ivey layup.

Holmgren capitalized the quarter off with a putback dunk, but Detroit was able to bounce back from a double-digit Oklahoma City lead, cutting the score to 54-49.

The third quarter was more of the same back and forth play. However, Bertans was able to knock down a pair of 3-pointers to give Oklahoma City the slight 90-88 edge heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter quickly slipped away from the Thunder, as the Pistons outscored it 30-26 to just come away with a win. Marcus Sasser had a huge game off the bench for Detroit, recording 17 points, six assists and four rebounds. A late offensive surge from Oklahoma City almost lead to a comeback win, but Detroit was able to put the game away by denying the Thunder's final inbound pass.

Ultimately, the Thunder loss came down to 3-point and free-throw conversion. Detroit outshot Oklahoma City 34% to 28% from the 3-pointer, and converted 83% of its free-throws compared to Oklahoma City's 63%.

In its final preseason game, the Thunder finished with a record of 2-3. The preseason was a useful tool to gauge how its players have progressed over the offseason, as well as the expectations Oklahoma City should have heading into the regular season.

Oklahoma City will begin its regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 25 against the Chicago Bulls. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CST at the United Center.

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