Memphis, TN – The Thunder hit the road for their third game of their five game road trip where they have won the previous two and and are in the middle of a three game winning streak that they looked to extend.
It was going to be a little tougher tonight because they were without their best defender Lu Dort and one of their best defenders of the bench in Kenrich Williams.
The last few times these two team have played each other the games have been good and the start of this one was no different.
The Thunder couldn’t really hit much inside to start the game but hit some threes and got to the line to keep them in the game so it was close. For most of the first half, it felt like the Thunder were getting blown out because of how many shots they had missed in the paint shooting 8-27 from there in the half but they hit 8 first half threes, 10 free throws, and caused 7 turnovers so the game stayed close.
It stayed close for most of the game until the 4th quarter when the Thunder looked like they ran out of steam while the Grizzlies looked like they were catching their second wind. Grizzlies pulled away in the 4th making the game look like it was much more of a blowout than it was.
The Thunder three game win streak came to an end on the road with a 123-102 loss.
Here are the 3 reasons for the loss:
Missed the Easy Ones
The Thunder shot 19-45 in the paint.
That’s pretty much the game right there. Missing 26 shots in the paint won’t win you many games. For most of the game, the game was close with both teams keeping it at only a couple of possessions game so if the Thunder hit half of those shots in the paint they probably have control of the game and it could be a different outcome.
Also, with shooting that bad in the paint, they only shot 20-54 from 2. Luckily they hit some threes or it could have been a very ugly game.
This isn’t something to really worry about considering they haven’t really been this bad in the paint this season but it just goes onto the list of things they could have done to win a game which would improve their record.
Turnover Happy
The Thunder had a stretch of about 7 games where they were keeping their turnovers relatively low but here lately it’s been up and down with them having a few high turnover games.
Tonight was a high turnover game as they had 19 of them. That could also be the main reason they lost because they were turned into 21 points.
Now, all turnovers aren’t created equal but most of the ones the Thunder had against the Grizzlies were pretty careless and came at the wrong time.
In close games, and the game was closer than what the boxscore says, you can’t have high turnovers combined with easy missed shots. Would like to have low turnovers and make the easy shots but have to at least pick one of them to be bad at, not both.
Take the Grizzlies for instance, they also had high turnovers but they also played really well in the paint with 62 points.
Definitely something to learn from.
Not Enough Gas
The game was close until the 4th quarter and as mentioned before it looked like the Thunder ran out of gas while the Grizzlies were hitting their second wind.
The boxscore says and watching the game said. The Thunder looked tired and it showed in the 4th because their defense and offense was effected. Allowing 29 and only scoring 15 themselves.
It is the third game of the five game road trip and they are a little shorthanded so some of it is expected but the Thunder just didn’t have it down the stretch while the Grizzlies did.
The Thunder were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who had his 7 game streak of 30 or more points end against the Grizzlies with 26 points and 7 assists. Josh Giddey added 10 points and 10 rebounds while Aleksej Pokusevski added 10 points and 4 assists. Off the bench Eugene Omoruyi had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals, and Tre Mann added 12 points.
The team will look to bet back in the win column when they visit Cleveland on Saturday night.
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