Oklahoma City Thunder Win In Overtime As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Dominates
Steph Curry returned last night but the Warriors struggles continued as they lost their sixth game in a row. The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off the overtime victory 130-123 after strong performances from Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. With Draymond Green out due to suspension, CP3 got the nod and Steve Kerr opted to go small, starting Steph, CP3, Klay, Wiggins and Looney.
Klay Thompson got fouled on a three ball and quickly put the Warriors up 3-0 but rookie sensation Chet Holmgren came back with a trey and an easy layup to put the Thunder ahead. Chet knocked down another shorter jumper to put the Thunder up 12-7 but Klay drilled a three pointer sandwiched by two Wiggins buckets and the Dubs took the lead back. Later in the quarter with the Warriors second unit in, SGA dominated getting several smooth buckets but the Warriors were able to hang around thanks to good play by Kuminga and Podziemski. Just before the horn sounded, Isaiah Joe nailed a three and gave the Thunder a 33-31 lead after one. The first half of the second period went back and forth, but with four and a half minutes left on the clock and OKC up 45-43, the Warriors kicked it into gear. Steph and Wiggins took turns knocking down mid range jumpers before Klay rained in two deep threes and just like that Golden State was up 58-49. Chet Holmgren got a pair of free throws to fall but Wiggins was feeling it and drained one from beyond the arc to give the Dubs a 61-51 lead at the break.
The Thunder clawed back in the third led by 15 points from SGA. Still with under 60 ticks left in the third quarter, the Warriors held a seven point lead. It was Isaiah Joe again who hit a clutch three and smooth mid range bucket to make it a two point ball game with one quarter to play. The fourth is where things got interesting. The Warriors jumped out to an early seven point advantage, but Josh Giddey immediately sprayed a long ball trimming the lead to 94-90 with nine and half minutes remaining. A few minutes later, Chet Holmgren flushed a dunk home, and gave OKC their first lead of the second half, 100-98. Wiggins bounced back, pouring two threes in while Curry hit another and the game was tied at 108 apiece with just over three minutes to go. Shai knocked down a jumper but CP3 came back down the court next possession and cashed one in from downtown, putting the Warriors up one. Then it was Chet with a bucket followed by another Wiggins three pointer giving the Dubs a 114-112 lead. SGA went to the charity stripe and converted two freebies, and the score remained tied until Wiggins nailed a clutch three with 1.1 seconds remaining in the game. Chase Center was roaring and everyone thought the Warriors had secured their first win in over a week, but Chet Holmgren caught the ball in the corner, turned around, and absolutely swished a game-tying trey. Overtime was all Thunder as SGA caught fire scoring ten points himself while Golden State only amassed six as a team. The Thunder took the air out of the building and came away with another win against the Warriors, 130-123.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced all scorers with 40 points on 18-29 shooting while Chet poured in 36 of his own to go along with 10 boards. Jalen Williams chipped in 22 points, Josh Giddey had 11 and Isaiah Joe had 10 off the bench. Wiggins had by far his best game of the season recording 31 points on 12-19 shooting and 5-8 from downtown. Steph put up a casual 25 including five threes while Klay nailed three threes and accounted for 16 points. Kuminga had 13 off the pine, CP3 had 12 with 11 assists, and Looney had 6 but was able to grab 16 rebounds, his season-high.
It was a very average game for Golden State with regards to team stats. They shot a modest 45.4% from the field including 39.1% from beyond the arc. They narrowly won the rebound battle 49-47 but lost the turnover battle as they coughed it up 16 times and only forced 10. The biggest bright spot from this game was clearly Andrew Wiggins. His shot has been off all season, and his game just hasn’t seemed to be at the level he’s capable of, so it was great to see him eclipse 30 points and hit a go-ahead three pointer in the clutch. If he can carry this over and continue to play this way, the Warriors will be scary down the road. There were necessarily any areas of massive struggle, but as per usual, I’d like to see the Warriors clean up their turnovers and make it an emphasis to get to the paint more. They only had 36 points in the paint and 21 free throws so there is definitely room for growth in that department. And then additionally, if the Dubs could get some more support from their bench it would go a long way. Winning the “non-Steph Curry minutes” is a huge factor in winning the game. Moses Moody and Kuminga should each be putting up 10 a night and Saric should be hovering around there too. Golden State is now 6-8 and needs to get back in the win column soon.
Next for the Warriors, the Houston Rockets come to town on Monday. They have surprised some people this year and are no longer a bottom five team in my opinion as they picked up Fred Van Vleet and Dillon Brooks in the off-season. Brooks is sure to do whatever he can to get in Curry’s head and with no Draymond, someone else on the Warriors will need to match his intensity and competitiveness. I’m taking the Dubs to finally put an end to their losing streak and pick up a win against the Rockets 110-92.