OKC Thunder Can't Connect From 3-Point Range, Lose 2nd Straight On Road to Nets

The Oklahoma City Thunder's recent road woes continued Friday evening as it failed to put up a fight against the Brooklyn Nets to notch its second straight loss in as many tries on its four-game road trip.

Looking to avenge a loss that disrupted a five-game win streak including wins over both No. 1 seeds in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a little extra motivation to knock off the hosting Brooklyn Nets Friday evening. 

Losing to the Atlanta Hawks in a game that came down to a missed 3-pointer with time expiring stung, but didn't feel like a wake-up call or a snap back to reality, especially considering how close the Thunder came after a series of unfortunate events led to its late arrival on the second night of a back-to-back.

Still, Oklahoma City wanted a win to get back on track on the road, but unfortunately by halftime at Barclays Center, that was likely not to be the case. A slow start mixed with poor shooting made sure of that, as the Nets cruised to a 124-115 win to break up a five-game losing streak of their own. 

Jan 5, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) for a dunk in the first quarter at Barclays Center / © Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did his thing all night, notching another efficient 30-point game to pair with nine rebounds and six assists, but besides the Thunder’s solid starting production, it saw little help all night.

Thirteen points made up Oklahoma City's bench scoring through three quarters, and in the fourth, not much made a positive difference as it was ultimately outplayed in every aspect of the game.

An all-around effort from Brooklyn told the opposite story. Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie combined for 46 points to lead the Nets, while five other players finished with at least nine points on a productive scoring night for the team as a whole.

Right off the bat, the Nets struck first with a dunk from Nic Claxton to open up the scoring, and for the next few possessions, all seemed normal. Oklahoma City responded with a bucket from Josh Giddey, and both teams began to go back-and-forth with the Thunder taking a two-point lead on a breakaway score from Holmgren.

The rookie center — who recently finished in the top-10 for Western-Conference All-Star Frontcourt — slammed home a pass from Giddey to seemingly set the tone early, but unbeknownst to the Thunder, that would not be the case.

But Holmgren did make the highlight reel. 

Right down the lane 🔨

Vote Thunder: https://t.co/2FFNkzxxzm pic.twitter.com/PL2oGjiues

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 6, 2024

After Oklahoma City's early lead was re-gained by Brooklyn, it never led for the remainder of the game, but it fought anyway. 

Gilgeous-Alexander took over for his team at the end of the first period with a series of makes and free throws, but it wasn't enough as Bridges punctuated the Nets' productive quarter with made charity-stripe shots of his own to secure an 18-point lead heading to the second quarter.

Oklahoma City was hoping for a better result in the second quarter — and by the sectioned score report, it got one — but no matter what it seemed to conjure up offensively, Brooklyn had it trumped. 

Thomas hit three triples in the second 12 minutes while Oklahoma City struggled to find the bottom of the bucket from behind the arc — barely crossing the 30-percent clip from that range on the game, most of which was found in the final period — and the Nets added another 10 points to their lead, heading to halftime with their season-high points in a half and a 75-47 cushion. 

Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey scored the first four points of the second half for the Thunder before Holmgren and Luguentz Dort joined in on the scoring, but once again, the Nets responded behind a scoring spree from Spencer Dinwiddie and Claxton to keep their visitors at bay. 

After a five-point mini-run from Dort threatened to cut the lead to under 20 points, Dorian Finney-Smith returned the favor and allowed Brooklyn to re-gain momentum, as it crossed the century mark before the quarter even ended to maintain a commanding 22-point lead heading to the final period of play.

Despite Oklahoma City's best efforts, not much could be done to make up the hole it found itself in in the final quarter. It found a spark of life throughout the waning minutes of the fourth — even bringing it to within eight with a little over two minutes to play — but it was too little, too late as Brooklyn secured a 124-115 home victory. 

With the loss, the Thunder fall to 23-11 on its season to move into a tie for the No. 2 seed with the Denver Nuggets as both teams near the halfway mark of the season. 

Next up for Coach Mark Daigneault's squad is a trip to Washington D.C. for its third contest of a four-game road trip, where it can once again look to grab a win.

Tipoff from Capital One Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST Monday.

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