The Oklahoma City Thunder had a chance to send a message to the Detroit Pistons that their young core is the better one. Instead, the only message the Thunder sent is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs his teammates to step up and carry their weight.
After the Thunder led by as much as 16 points, a disastrous second half helped the Pistons defeat the Thunder, 112-103. The Pistons outscored the Thunder in the final two quarters, 64-40.
The story of the game is simple: Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, the rest of the starters did not perform well.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points, the other four Thunder started combined to score 29 points.
Despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s marvelous play, it’s nearly impossible to win games when it took the fourth quarter for one of his teammates to reach 10 points.
For the Pistons, it was a well-balanced attack as six players scored in double-digits.
Cade Cunningham finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Jaden Ivey finished with 15 points, 11 rebound, six assists and three blocks. Saddiq Bey scored a team-high 25 points. Isaiah Stewart finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this nine-point loss.
Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
This is the easiest one as Gilgeous-Alexander continues to play like one of the best players in the league.
In this game, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks in 38 minutes. Gilgeous-Alexander did not attempt a three-pointer once again this game.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 30-plus points in six of his nine games this season and in 14 of his last 19 games overall.
Gilgeous-Alexander has taken the next step in his development. Now it’s time for other members of the roster to do so as well.
One word. TOUGH 😤 pic.twitter.com/hTPx7GOLGP
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
🅱unnies pic.twitter.com/F1EQRBiLG6
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
Hustle plays are our thing ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/FuKkNU1vAA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
On time, on target 🤝 pic.twitter.com/K32puTvYdq
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
JDub keeps it alive…SGA finishes it. pic.twitter.com/6tGr2KTZnj
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 8, 2022
Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
This was just not a good game for Josh Giddey and it’s been a rough…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at OKC Thunder Wire…