Josh Giddey Continues Historic Streak, Not Enough Versus Spurs

Fresh off the heels of a grudge match in the Garden, the Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves picked by the San Antonio Spurs – being uprooted 114-106.

For the Thunder, the loss moves them to 18-40 on the season. The faltering positions them fourth in reverse standings leading into the All-Star break.

A major feeling-out process took place to open Wednesday’s play. In the opening course of action, San Antonio held a feeble lead until a 9-3 lead opened the floodgates to string a nine-point lead. Lindy Waters III took charge late for Oklahoma City, generating five points in three minutes to net his first-career points and cut the deficit to 34-29 through one.

The second quarter came in two separate chapters. To kickstart play, an OKC Blue-infused roster thumped out a 16-7 opening run, and the lead – headlined by nine Theo Maledon points. After the second-unit run, San Antonio took control, punctuating a 32-13 closer to stake a 15-point, 73-58 lead.

Mark Daigneault spread the spotlight in the first half as 49 of the team’s 58 first-half points came from former Oklahoma City Blue assignees. A top the bunch rested Maledon and Tre Mann with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

San Antonio placed four double-digit scorers in the first half of play.

Oklahoma City failed to breach into single digits for the grand portion of the third. This stagnation remained until a bench 11-5 burst cut the game to six – heading into the final frame out 89-81.

The Thunder looked to be on their last leg in the closing portion of the fourth, but a late spark from OKC’s pair of first-rounders drew the game to seven inside a minute, and five points a possession later.

Following a botched inbound, the Thunder had an opportunity to slice the game to one possession, but three cracks at the basket posted no cigar – and San Antonio made diamonds at the line.

San Antonio shared the love divvying out 29 total assists, and six members into double digits.

Jakob Poeltl starred for the Spurs, scoring 20 points on a 10-of-14 clip with 17 rebounds.

Oklahoma City settled down from distance to hoist an 11-of-32 clip, but a 41% output on twos hindered the group’s scoring ability.

After a hoard of accolades in Madison Square Garden, Josh Giddey upped the ante against the Spurs. In the rookie’s 33 minutes, the Aussie strung up his third-consecutive triple-double adding 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Giddey stuffed the stat sheet fairly effortlessly during play as with keys to the offense, he accounted for 40 points on the night.

Giddey joins Oscar Robertson as the only rookies in NBA history to log three-straight triple-doubles.

Tre Mann swung his streak of double-digits to three posting 24 points on a 10-of-20 shot chart. Mann kept his cool in both frames to tally ten-plus points in both quarters, respectively. The former Gator played heavily into his stepback to sink three triples.

Isaiah Roby stood up to his starting gig Wednesday, churning out a season-high 17 points and 12 rebounds at the five spot. Roby’s play off of high-ball screens set the 24-year-old up for a bevy of flushes inside while his sneaky job on pops earned him a three. Roby’s recording marked his highest single-game total of the calendar year.

Theo Maledon heated up under the microscope following nearly a month in the G League. The 20-year-old spewed out a season-high 22 points and two assists. Maledon mirrored much of his rookie self Wednesday as the Frenchman slipped inside multiple times for runners while canning 8-of-9 foul shots.

The Thunder will take an eight-day hiatus for the All-Star break before returning to action on February 24 versus the Phoenix Suns.

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