Top Performers: Thunder Fall Short in Sacramento

The COVID-19 protocols had finally caught up with the Thunder as one of the last teams in the NBA to have a wave of players entering Tuesday night’s game.

OKC entered the game missing five players as well as coach Mark Daigneault, with Mike Wilks filling in as interim coach.

The Thunder managed to keep it close with the Sacramento Kings throughout, but couldn’t overcome a poor second quarter, falling 117-111.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

On what felt like an “off” night for the Thunder, star Gilgeous-Alexander managed to keep OKC afloat throughout the contest.

Gilgeous-Alexander was responsible for 15 of the Thunder’s 30 fourth quarter points in an effort to close the gap, but lackluster team defense haunted OKC all night.

He didn’t quite have it from the field Tuesday, shooting just 37.5% on 9-of-24, instead opting to make an impact from the charity stripe. He managed 17 attempts from the line, sinking 14.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points, 5 rebounds and five assists.

Aaron Wiggins

Wiggins was on a mission to prove that Sunday’s 24-point explosion wasn’t a fluke.

He was the Thunder’s leading scorer out of the half — scoring eight points in the third quarter.

Following up such a surprise game such as Sunday night’s for Wiggins was going to be hard, but the rookie managed to hold his own — ending with his second-straight 10+ point game. Wiggins’ final line was 14 points and five rebounds on 62.5% shooting.

you know what i'm gonna say partner..@Aaron_Wiggins_ SAVED BASKETBALL pic.twitter.com/3OucDGYieS
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 29, 2021

The Bench

Gabriel Deck, OKC Thunder — Kelley L Cox / USA TODAY Sports

With Gilgeous-Alexander shouldering most of the offensive duties of a COVID-19- depleted team, the bench needed to chip in for their star player.

It was an all-hands-on-deck affair for the bench Tuesday as a good portion of its usual characters either in protocols or having been thrust into the starting lineup.

Despite the number of players missing Wilks opted to go 11-deep, giving Olivier Sarr his first minutes since signing a 10-day hardship. Sarr, 22, showed flashes of skill in his 12 minutes of game time — scoring four points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots.

now it's a party, @sarr_olivier 🚫@okcblue ↔️ #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/TLXcwKQYww
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 29, 2021

Tuesday saw the first action for Gabriel Deck since Dec. 2, and just his seventh appearance of the season. Deck played his second highest minutes total of the season and provided a spark late in the first quarter finishing a layup and hitting a three to end the quarter.

Gabriel desde atrás 🎯@gabriel_deck | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/cm3ckn23fW
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 29, 2021

He finished with five points to go along with two assists.

The bench put together 32 points, but struggled to contain the Kings' Buddy Hield as he torched the Thunder second unit for 21 points.

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

Add us as a preferred source on Google