Stiles Points: Late Game Execution Doomed OKC Thunder Against Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Houston Rockets to wrap up a four game road trip. Late game execution doomed Oklahoma City from an undefeated trip.

Dec 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason (17) and forward Amen Thompson (1) celebrate after a play during the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Thunder will finally hop on a bird and return to Oklahoma City after a four game road trip. This time, they board the plane after a loss, for the first time all trip. A 3-1 record is nothing to sneeze at but falling to the Houston Rockets always stings in a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the conference.

While there was more good than bad in this eight day trip, it certainly ended on a sour note. Late in the game against the Houston Rockets, while Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks were tossing in hail mary's, the Thunder did itself no favors.

At 26 seconds, the Thunder needed to foul as the Rockets corraled a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander mid-range miss, they didn't. With the score 115-113, it proved to be a grave error. By the time Isaiah Joe finally earned a whistle, there was just five ticks remaining.

“In an ideal world we would have like to foul earlier…I’ll take that one but certainly we weren’t trying to run off that much time," head coach Mark Daigneault said after the game.

He will certainly have to wear this game, as Free VanVleet knocked two freebies it was curtains in Houston.

Jalen Williams' answered prayer with two ticks left just made for a prettier box score, not a more winnable game. The Thunder blew that opportunity when they elected now to foul until it was far too late.

This was a very abnormal late-game outcome for Oklahoma City. You do not rattle off 57 wins a year ago and sit as the No. 1 team in the West even after this loss without poise in the clutch. Though, it is a glaring issue the Thunder have to address.

The Thunder bench boss is willing to own it and he should. The entire coaching staff should have been up off the pine barking out orders to foul. Oklahoma City has two of the toughest shot makers in the league and extending the game is always worth wild to give them more chances to salvage a win.

Perhaps, if Oklahoma City didn't needlessly challenge an out of bounds call they would've had an additional timeout in their back pocket to make the most of Williams' 27 foot triple. Instead, Oklahoma City's hopes of overtime rested on a 31 foot jumper from the rising star that didn't have enough.

These are the decisions that get over looked after a loss and washed away with a win. But they all matter. Oklahoma City's bench boss doesn't cite learning from these expirences as a get out of jail free card.

The Thunder are still the youngest team in the NBA and have championship aspirations. They are also one of the best squads at course correcting, rarely making the same mistake twice.

Just this week, in the bay area and LaLa Land the Thunder's suffocating late game play earned them gutty wins on the road. No one should expect these late game blunders to be the new norm, but it doesn't make the pill any easier to swallow.

Stiles Points

• Cason Wallace started this game on another cold streak. Clanking open triples and going up soft at the rim to the tune of rejection. Though, the second year guard was able to bounce back in the later stages of this game and finish with 14 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was special in his third quarter takeover wrestling away momentum for a moment to finish with 32 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.
• Aaron Wiggins was spectaular off the bench, proving to be one of the Thunder's top options. His ability to create his own shot only bested by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams on this OKC squad of the available players
• After a silent first half, Jalen Williams labored his way to 22 points, five rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a block. in the second half Williams upped his overall shooting percentage from 33% to 40%.
• Isaiah Hartenstein turned in his fifth straight game with a double-double and continues to be a key cog in the Thunder's system. Oklahoma City clearly has Hartenstein as their third best player.

Song of the Day: Houston by the Gatlin Brothers.

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