In their fourth house sport of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder confronted off in opposition to the Orlando Magic and their No. 1 total choose from the 2022 NBA Draft, Paolo Banchero. The Magic’s large lineup would put up an incredible combat, however the Thunder’s clutch play late in the fourth would convey house a 116-108 victory after overcoming a 15-point deficit.
The Thunder welcomed the return of Josh Giddey to their beginning lineup after an ankle sprain brought about him to overlook the final three video games. Fan-favorite rookie Jalen Williams additionally made his debut as a starter.
To kick off the sport, Oklahoma City struggled to comprise Orlando’s super-sized beginning lineup as Wendell Carter, Jr. and Bol Bol scored the first 11 factors for the Magic which led to 2 fast fouls on Thunder beginning middle Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and firm had been in a position to tie issues up 19-19 in the center of the body earlier than some sizzling taking pictures from rookie Ousmane Dieng helped the Thunder barely edge out the Magic and finish the first quarter on high, 33-32.
The Thunder continued into the second quarter selecting up proper the place they left off, spreading the ball round, making performs on each ends of the flooring, and constructing a nine-point lead early on behind Giddey and the second unit.
From there, the Magic’s offense would discover its rhythm, slicing the result in one with about two minutes remaining whereas the Thunder’s offense began to chill down. Orlando’s sizzling taking pictures would proceed to offer Oklahoma City’s protection issues and head into halftime up 66-63.
The Magic would push the result in ten popping out of the break, led by Franz Wagner, whereas the Thunder’s offense continued to sputter. Oklahoma City would additionally battle defensively by a lot of the quarter as the Magic’s mixture of measurement and ability proved troublesome to cease.
But Gilgeous-Alexander’s offensive juice and a few well timed buckets from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tre Mann would preserve the Thunder inside placing distance, closing what was as soon as a 14-point lead all the way down to only a seven-point lead.
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And as the Magic’s second unit tried to keep up the Magic’s benefit heading towards the fourth quarter, the Thunder’s personal second unit would discover one other run in them and trim the lead down to 3, closing out the third body down 85-88.
The Thunder began off the fourth quarter on the proper foot, forcing the Magic’s twenty second turnover of the evening, however couldn’t discover their groove offensively and made issues too straightforward on the reverse aspect of the flooring as they gave up 13 factors in the first 4 minutes.
Carter Jr. would knock down an open three to seek out his twenty sixth level of the evening and provides the Magic a 15-point cushion heading down the stretch. This would immediate Mark Daigneault to name a timeout and reassess.
Post-timeout, the Thunder would come out firing and lower the result in two as Luguentz Dort nailed a 3, the group would discover some large defensive stops, and Gilgeous-Alexander would shortly discover six factors after drawing two fouls and rating on a leak out.
And a big-time 3-pointer by Aleksej Pokusevski would push would give the Thunder a 105-104 lead.
And as each groups tussled to shut out the sport, a motivated Thunder protection ramped up its efforts, thwarting the Magic’s makes an attempt to regain their lead. But it was too late. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder’s closing lineup would capitalize on turnovers and pull out the win, 116-108.
The Thunder will keep house to play the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic, and the Denver Nuggets for the third time this season on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. CST.
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