Three Takeaways From the OKC Thunder's Narrow Victory over Memphis
After a slow start to its Saturday night road contest against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Oklahoma City Thunder went on a 10-2 run near the end of the third quarter to propel the team to victory.
In a game that saw Memphis shoot over 40% from 3-point range as a team, the 23-win Grizzlies kept the matchup close from start to finish.
With the win, OKC is now in sole ownership of the second seed in the Western Conference, sitting one game behind the defending champion Denver Nuggets and one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Here are three takeaways from last night's contest:
Thunder close without Giddey on the floor
Despite a solid outing from third-year guard Josh Giddey, the Thunder elected to play rookie guard Cason Wallace in the fourth quarter instead of the 6-foot-8 Australian.
Giddey went 6-for-12 on Saturday night, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists, but shot 1-for-6 from beyond the arc. Without being able to hit shots from the perimeter, Giddey struggles to fit well in Mark Daigneault's system at times, and can disrupt the flow of Oklahoma City's offense.
Giddey played just 19 minutes against the Grizzlies, with the team's other four starters all logging more than 30 minutes of action. Off the bench, Wallace and Isaiah Joe both saw more than 20 minutes on the court in Memphis.
Both Joe and Wallace are seemingly better fits with OKC's offense as the two are not ball dominate players and are much more consistent 3-point shooters than Giddey.
Wallace also had an off night from beyond the arc, but still finished as a +3 in the box score while Giddey ended with a -3 plus/minus.
Williams and Holmgren step up on an off-night from SGA
Against the Grizzlies on Saturday night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not have his typical 30-point performance.
The MVP candidate finished 8-of-16 from the floor, recording 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one block. While this is certainly not an awful outing, it is nowhere close to what Thunder observers have grown to expect from Gilgeous-Alexander.
On a tough night for the All-Star guard, rookie center Chet Holmgren and second-year wing Jalen Williams stepped up with strong performances of their own.
Holmgren finished 8-of-13 from the floor, tallying 22 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal. The big man also went 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
After a strong performance against the Mavericks on Thursday night, Williams notched 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and one steal on Saturday in Memphis.
With two ancillary stars like Holmgren and Williams flanking an MVP candidate in Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are able to pick up the slack when one of their standouts has an off-night.
Joe bounces back off the bench
After just one double-digit scoring output in his last seven games, Joe was solid off the bench for Oklahoma City on Saturday night.
The sharpshooter went 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc to rack up 10 points, two rebounds, one assist and one block.
As an underrated defender, the Thunder don't have to compromise their defense by putting Joe on the floor. The Arkansas product is one of the team's best perimeter shooters and opens Daigneault's offense up by providing good spacing and a real threat from beyond the arc.
Additionally, Joe has improved as a ball-handler and a cutter since arriving in OKC before the 2022-23 season.
Last night, Joe logged more minutes than Giddey, who was in the team's starting lineup. As the playoffs approach, Daigneault and company may continue this trend if Joe continues to play well.
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