In one other tightly-contested matchup, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been defeated 122-117 by the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night time. Despite the loss, OKC completed with six gamers scoring in double figures.
Led as soon as once more by fifth-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; Josh Giddey, Mike Muscala, Lu Dort, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tre Mann all pitched in double digit outputs. SGA, Muscala and Giddey’s performances, nonetheless, all stood out from the remaining.
Unsurprisingly, Gilgeous-Alexander was the Thunder’s main scorer on Saturday, notching 28 factors and 7 assists. The Kentucky product had recurring success when driving into the paint and contorting his physique to discover an open shooter on the perimeter, with Muscala being on the receiving finish for a lot of of those kick out dimes.
SGA’s nifty passing helped open up the lane for Gilgeous-Alexander, who dominated the sport as a slasher on an off-night from behind the arc. Of his 11 made photographs, just one got here from 3-point vary.
As the competition wore on, the Nuggets protection appeared to turn out to be extra fatigued, and started to foul the previous Clipper on his means to the basket. These profitable journeys to the free throw line helped Oklahoma City stay in rivalry within the second half.
For Giddey, Saturday night marked his second double-double in two video games as the Australian guard completed with 19 factors, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. The 6-foot-8 ball handler knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers in opposition to Denver, as soon as once more wanting extra assured letting the ball fly from deep.
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As we’ve seen beforehand, Giddey continued to whip one-handed lasers across the courtroom to his open teammates, who on a number of events have been unable to capitalize on an ideal setup from the previous Adelaide 36er.
Late within the fourth quarter, Giddey leaped up to seize a rebound and was undercut by a Nuggets defender, sending the 2021 lottery decide onto his again. As he tumbled to the ground, Giddey simply managed to let off a bounce move to Mann, who took the ball to the rim for the game-tying basket.
After a quiet opening night time, Muscala was a significant beneficiary of OKC’s drive-and-kick recreation in Denver. The Thunder huge man linked on 4 3-pointers, every of them coming off of kick out passes after the Nuggets protection collapsed on slashing guards.
“Moose” as he’s identified by Thunder followers, tallied 18 factors and 6 rebounds in solely 19 minutes on the ground. If Muscala can constantly knock down catch-and-shoot 3-pointers like he did in opposition to the Nuggets, the 10-year veteran will definitely earn a bigger position in OKC’s rotation.
Oklahoma City will open its 2022-23 house slate in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m. on October 24.
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