Top Performers: Giddey Nearly Finds Triple-Double in Loss to Rockets

In the first of two back-to-back games against the Houston Rockets, the Thunder struggled to put the ball in the basket. Oklahoma City converted just 38 of their 104 shots from the floor and shot just 27.9% from beyond the arc to lose in an uncharacteristic fashion, 106-112.

After the game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault shared his thoughts on the loss, saying, “They were more ready to play from the jump. We had a hard time in the first half. They just played with a lot more force than we did.”

The loss brings the Thunder’s record to 24-27, or three games below .500, and moves them further away from a potential Playoff berth. They sit 1.5 games behind the 10th seed, the last Play-In spot, and 2.0 games behind the seventh seed, currently held by the Golden State Warriors.

Here are your top performers from Wednesday night’s loss:

Josh Giddey

Despite the loss, the sophomore ball-handler pieced together a strong performance, going for 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting and hitting two threes while grabbing eight boards, including four offensive rebounds.

Giddey’s eight assists were also instrumental, helping the Thunder’s offense find some sort of footing on a bad shooting night. He finished with just three turnovers while adding a steal and a block.

He was just two rebounds and two assists away from securing another triple-double.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

It was an atypical game for the Thunder’s All-Star guard. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a respectable team-high 24 points, but did so on poor efficiency as he hit just seven of his 23 shots and failed to make any of his three 3-point attempts. His shots just weren’t falling.

But he was still the driving force behind his team’s effort, finding a way to get to the charity stripe 10 times, making all of them. He also led the way on the defensive end with three steals, grabbed eight rebounds, and found four dimes while turning it over just once.

Tre Mann

In just 17 minutes off the bench, the sophomore ankle-breaker provided a much-needed offensive punch and was the most efficient scorer on the night, dropping 18 points on the back of 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Mann also grabbed five rebounds in his limited time, the equivalent of about 10.5 boards per 36 minutes, while adding one steal.

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.