Oklahoma City Drops Shocking Game in Detroit, Ending Five-Game Win Streak
After a total team effort in New Orleans on Friday night, Oklahoma City followed it up with the worst loss of the entire season on Sunday. The Thunder showed up to Detroit with no effort or intensity, losing to the NBA's worst team 120-104.
The Detroit Pistons had won just two games in the entire month of January. As a team, the Pistons came into Sunday’s contest 5-40 overall, with zero wins against teams over .500. After just recently taking over the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Thunder chose a miserable time to lay an egg.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was about the only Thunder player who showed up, scoring 31 points in 29 minutes on 13-of-20 shooting. Jalen Williams helped out, too, adding 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
After a strong opening quarter, Chet Holmgren hit a wall, finishing with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting in 23 minutes.
There's no other words to describe Sunday's matinee besides disastrous. The team was certainly looking ahead to Monday's showdown against Minnesota, and it bit them in the end.
Oklahoma City set the tone early on, and started by dominating in the post. In the first three minutes of the game, Holmgren recorded seven points, four rebounds and a block.
That was as good as it would get in the first half, though, as the Thunder lost all momentum after taking an early 15-5 lead. The effort on the glass, defending shooters, and recovering loose balls was poor all-around.
Detroit out-rebounded Oklahoma City 27 to 22 in the first half and ripped down nine offensive rebounds compared to the Thunder's two. OKC's defense has played with intensity as of late, forcing turnovers and running in transition. That was simply not the case for the first 24 minutes. The Thunder forced just one turnover and committed five of their own.
At the break, Detroit led 70-61.
It looked like Oklahoma City had finally turned a corner in the third quarter. The team woke up and Gilgeous-Alexander started to take over. With 4:21, Jaylin Williams dropped in a layup that made it 87-84.
From there, Detroit went on an unbelievable 13-2 run, erasing all the progress the Thunder had made. The Pistons extended its lead to 100-86, and the Thunder needed a miracle down the stretch to come back.
In the fourth quarter, the Thunder never even got it close enough to give Gilgeous-Alexander an excuse to return to the game. The team waived the white flag early, emptying the bench and accepting the worst possible loss for the West's top team.
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