Player grades: Thunder pull away late in 111-91 win over Rockets

Driving to the basket, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drew the critical foul on Aaron Holiday. A couple of swished free-throw attempts later, the reigning NBA champions checked off the last item of their to-do list before the starters checked out for the final time. The reigning MVP just passed the 20-point mark.

The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late in their 111-91 win over the Houston Rockets. After going back and forth to start, they had a strong finish to turn this into a boring finish.

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Things were pretty ugly to start for both sides. Doubling Gilgeous-Alexander as soon as he reached the halfcourt, the Rockets’ defensive bet to force the other OKC players to beat them worked early on. Houston’s offense, though, remained ugly. You can be an offensive rebound machine. But that loses its value when you can’t convert on second-chance looks.

The Thunder held a 21-19 lead after the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander was surprisingly scoreless. It didn’t take long for them to shake that off. As Chet Holmgren had plenty of easy looks around the rim, the bench lineup helped open up some buckets. Eventually, Gilgeous-Alexander joined in on the fun with an and-one layup to finally get on the scoreboard.

The Thunder scored 34 points in the second frame. They had a 55-48 lead over the Rockets at halftime. Coming out of the break, the Rockets eventually retook the lead in the opening moments. Gilgeous-Alexander turned it over once again as Alperen Sengun found Josh Okogie for the baseline dunk to get ahead.

Eventually, the game settled down, though. The Thunder only had 22 points, but were ahead once again. They had a 77-75 lead after the third quarter. Felt like we were on our way to a close finish, like we usually get when these two teams square off.

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Instead, OKC’s bench lineup spoiled that. Cason Wallace made a couple of 3-pointers in the opening stages of the fourth quarter. They suddenly built up an 88-79 lead a little over two minutes into the final frame. Struggling all night to score, Houston’s offense finally cratered through the floor. Kevin Durant was ice-cold on his jumper.

The Thunder opened the final frame on an unreal 27-6 run. Jalen Williams played within the flow of the offense. He didn’t force any jumpers. The Rockets’ defense fell apart as Jaylin Williams had a wide-open dunk. By the time Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in, the game was already over as OKC pushed its lead to as high as 25 points.

The Thunder scored 34 points in the final frame. While the Rockets won the possession battle by a decent margin thanks to offensive boards, none of that mattered if you couldn’t convert on their looks. What was once the league’s best offense has regressed hard in recent weeks.

The Thunder shot 46% from the field and went 16-of-41 (39%) from 3. They shot 13-of-15 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 41 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

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Gilgeous-Alexander had a quiet 20 points and four assists. Holmgren finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Ajay Mitchell scored 17 points. Lu Dort had 13 points.

Meanwhile, the Rockets shot 34% from the field and went 7-of-24 (29.2%) from 3. They shot 14-of-17 on free throws. They had 17 assists on 35 baskets. Four Rockets players scored double-digit points.

Sengun struggled with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Durant was inefficient with 19 points on 7-of-23 shooting. Jabari Smith Jr. had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Amen Thompson finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Keeping the momentum rolling, the Thunder picked up arguably their best road win of the season. The offense wasn’t there from the top of the rotation, but the backend made up for it. To the point that they made their game-sealing run with Gilgeous-Alexander mostly on the bench.

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Nobody had an otherworldly performance, but the Thunder collectively played their brand of defense-first basketball. It resulted in a runaway contest against a team many folks penciled in as a member of the inner title contender circle. Over the last couple of weeks, the reigning NBA champions have returned to being a win machine that leans on the defensive side to demoralize their opponents.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: C

Receiving the ball at the top of the key, Gilgeous-Alexander drove directly at the basket. All Thompson could do was bump him out of his trajectory. The reigning MVP spun around as he held onto the ball for dear life. He flung it up after the move for the acrobatic layup.

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Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, four assists and two rebounds. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 7-of-8 on free throws. He also had two blocks.

When it comes to gameplanning for one of the NBA’s greatest scorers ever, you’ve seen teams try about every idea imaginable. Houston turned it up to the max with ball-denial. That meant anytime Gilgeous-Alexander was on the floor, the Rockets threw multiple defenders at him. Even if he didn’t have the ball. That forced him to get creative to get his usual looks.

The plan somewhat worked. Gilgeous-Alexander was mostly quiet for his standards. He only had 10 points in the first half. When he was given the chance, he relied on his mid-range jumper to get most of his buckets. Eventually, the bet didn’t matter as Houston’s offense was inept and OKC’s role players started to hit on their open jumpers.

As the Thunder ran away on the scoreboard, Gilgeous-Alexander only had one drama storyline left — would he reach 20 points? He hoped to extend his streak to 112 games. It’s second all-time, only behind NBA pantheon Wilt Chamberlain.

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With the game already decided, Gilgeous-Alexander reached that mark. By the skin of his teeth, too. A couple of free-throw attempts sufficed before he eventually checked out. Not the prettiest box scores for his standard, but this is how you utilize the generational gravity he commands.

Chet Holmgren: A-minus

Keeping his eye on Thompson, Holmgren roamed the paint. Once he decided to drive to the basket, the seven-footer licked his chops. His help defense resulted in another empathic swat. The desperate layup was nowhere near the rim as the probable first-time All-Star volleyball-spiked it away for another block.

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Holmgren finished with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, nine rebounds and one assist. He shot 2-of-3 from 3 and went 2-of-3 on free throws. He also had four blocks and two steals.

Taking advantage of the Rockets’ hyperfixation on offensive rebounds, Holmgren had a busy night inside the paint. He scored 11 points in the first quarter on mostly textbook putbacks and a couple of running dunks. He ran the floor well to get plenty of easy looks in transition.

Playing with confidence, Holmgren beat Durant off the dribble in the fourth quarter. He soared through the paint to get the easy jam. Everything went well for the 23-year-old as Houston kept forgetting to put someone on the seven-footer for several possessions.

On the other end of the floor, Holmgren continues to build up his Defensive Player of the Year case. At this point, it won’t take him long to catch up to the block leaders. Since he’s played the center position, it’s a given for him to rack up multiple rejections.

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This is some of Holmgren’s best basketball. The Thunder have seen their defense return to tip-top shape after some recent lulls. And even then, they’ve sat at the top of most defensive stats for the entire season. What you’re seeing from the 23-year-old might not light up the social media world, but it has resulted in OKC’s dominance.

Jalen Williams: B

Going right at Houston’s interior defense, Williams sprayed the ball out to Wallace. Two consecutive outside makes started to put this one away in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. The 24-year-old flexed his playmaking skills in a game that shifted him into that role.

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Williams finished with six points on 2-of-11 shooting, 10 assists and five rebounds. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had one block.

The scoring has been up and down this season. You can probably attribute that to his surgically-repaired wrist. That said, there are other ways to affect basketball. Williams put up a prime example of that. He helped the offense to keep moving. The ball had good energy with the perimeter passing.

On the other end, Williams helped shut down Houston’s offense. Despite a jumbo frontcourt, the Thunder were able to size up because of his positional versatility. He’d take on Sengun down low in the paint and stay face-up on Durant at the mid-range. Can’t ask for much more.

The scoring is whatever. You didn’t need Williams to put up an efficient 20-plus points to get the lopsided win. Instead, he forgot about the stats and just played winning basketball. As cliché as that sounds, there’s a reason why he’s only known winning at a high clip at this level.

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Ajay Mitchell: A

Matching up with Reed Sheppard, Mitchell easily dribbled past him for a driving layup. Not even Sengun’s laissez-faire rim contest could slow him down. He helped push OKC’s lead to double-digit points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to turn this into a snoozer.

Mitchell finished with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, five rebounds and three assists. He shot 3-of-4 from 3. He also had one steal and one block.

Running the second unit offense, you saw Mitchell have a score-first approach. He sliced through Houston’s defense for a couple of driving layups. But this time, you saw him get most of his buckets on outside jumpers. He added to a rare good night from beyond the perimeter for the Thunder.

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The Thunder pulled away late with their bench lineup. Mitchell turned into a microwave scorer with eight points in the final frame. He swished a stepback 3-pointer to show how much he was feeling himself. Eventually, they put this one away without their NBA superstar.

You could make an argument that nobody else on OKC has made as huge a leap as Mitchell this season. From the back of the rotation to their Sixth Man scorer. The drop-off has been marginal when Gilgeous-Alexander is off the floor because of his ascension.

Lu Dort: B-plus

As the ball swung his way, Dort went with the baseline drive as Smith Jr. closed out. He bumped off of him to swish in a mid-range jumper. The opening possession previewed the type of bounce-back performance he’d have after a one-game absence.

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Dort finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three rebounds and one assist. He shot 3-of-5 from 3. He also had one block.

A lot has been made about Dort’s play this season. No question, the offense has regressed. The outside shooting hasn’t been at the same level as last season. The one-on-one defense also hasn’t been as lockdown as previous years, either.

That said, Dort was solid in this resume win over the Rockets. He hit on his outside jumpers. He also helped the Thunder completely bog down Houston’s struggling offense. None of their perimeter scorers could get anything going. Especially since none are really known as outside shooters.

This is a good step for Dort. Out of all of OKC’s starters, he’s had the rollercoaster season. Maybe this scoring output could get him to enjoy a hot streak during this lengthy road trip. The Thunder will definitely need their role players to step up if the offense wants to be sharp enough to get wins.

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This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder pull away late in 111-91 win over Rockets