'That's life': Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just misses potential winning 3-pointer as Thunder fall to Wizards
Joe MussattoShai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-point runner at the buzzer rimmed out.
The Thunder crowd sighed, as did the Wizards, who escaped Oklahoma City with a 101-99 win Friday night.
It was OKC’s seventh loss in its last eight games, but the young Thunder is regularly finding itself in tight battles.
“It’s happened multiple times,” rookie guard Josh Giddey said of failing to get over the hump. “It’s something we’re gonna learn over time with experience … The more we play in those situations, the better we’re gonna get at it.”
Gilgeous-Alexander glided for a dunk to cut Washington’s lead to two points with 32 seconds left.
Wizards forward Kentavious Caldwell-Pope missed a 3-pointer on the other end, which gave the Thunder one last chance.
Gilgeous-Alexander grabbed the defensive rebound with 4.3 seconds left, and it looked like the Thunder might improvise on the final possession before coach Mark Daigneault called timeout with 2.8 seconds left.
Precious tenths of seconds had ticked from the clock.
“Just for full clarity, in those situations I tell the players, you get a rebound, just bust it out and go, and if I want the timeout, I’ll interrupt it,” Daigneault said. “If anybody’s to blame on that one, that’s me.”
Gilgeous-Alexander had taken a dribble after the rebound, which meant the Thunder couldn’t advance the ball to half court after calling timeout.
“I was trying to figure out what our numbers looked like, and was just late to pull the trigger,” Daigneault said. “It’s just a risk that I take in calling it a little later to see what the court looks like, but (Gilgeous-Alexander) didn’t do anything wrong on that play, to be perfectly clear. That was on me.”
Giddey barely got the ball into Gilgeous-Alexander out of the timeout, but Gilgeous-Alexander made the most out of a tough spot.
His game-winning attempt from 28 feet barely missed.
“That’s life,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s basketball. You make or you miss.”
Here are four more takeaways from the game:
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returns
Gilgeous-Alexander’s right ankle was heavily taped Friday night, but it didn’t seem to deter him. Gilgeous-Alexander meandered through the lane like his old self.
The Thunder’s star point guard returned to the starting lineup Friday after missing the last two games with a right ankle sprain.
Daigneault said Gilgeous-Alexander had “autonomy” in his rehab process.
“It had a lot to do with him being able to get back as quickly as he is, so we’re really optimistic,” Daigneault said. “That was a nice little gain for somebody that’s still a young player, taking the ownership that he took in his recovery process.”
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
“Felt good out there,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The ankle felt good.”
The Thunder got one player back from a right ankle sprain only to lose another to a right ankle sprain.
Forward Kenrich Williams went down in the fourth quarter, and the Thunder’s medical staff ruled Williams out “on the spot,” Daigneault said.
Daigneault said he expects Williams “to miss some time.”
Dort vs. Beal
Daigneault said two players gave Luguentz Dort the most trouble last season. The first, Stephen Curry, made sense. The second, Bradley Beal, wasn’t as obvious.
Dort vs. Beal was the matchup to watch Friday night.
Both made clutch buckets in the fourth quarter.
Dort finished with 21 points, outscoring Beal by a point.
“He just moves a lot,” Dort said of Beal. “When I have to chase him around screens and stuff, I feel like that’s one of the toughest things to do. He makes tough shots. He’s a great player.
“I felt like I did an OK job today. Everything was tough for him. He kind of got it going at the end, but I still had to make everything tough.”
Caldwell-Pope tied Beal as the Wizards’ leading scorer with 20 points.
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Tre Mann, step-back artist
Thunder rookie Tre Mann made Davis Bertans look silly.
Bertans isn’t a good defender, but the Wizards forward certainly won’t be the last victim of Mann’s step-back jumper.
Mann baits defenders with a deep lunge, only to pull back his dribble and release a smooth shot.
Mann was back in the Thunder’s rotation after a G League stint. It was Mann’s first NBA action in nine days.
The Thunder might not be better with Mann on the floor, but OKC is certainly more entertaining.
Mann didn’t shoot it great Friday night (3-of-11), but you can see his scoring potential.
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What to do with Darius Bazley?
Something isn’t clicking for Darius Bazley.
The third-year forward is in such a slump offensively that it’s hard to imagine an end.
Bazley is shooting 19-of-76 (25%) in his last eight games.
Bazley, to his credit, checked in midway through the fourth quarter and gave the Thunder a quick five points, but his grip on a starting spot is surely slipping.
This set up to be a swing season for Bazley’s future, and so far he’s swung in the wrong direction.
