How Josh Giddey is turning a corner in OKC Thunder lineup
It was only weeks ago when NBA teams flipped Josh Giddey’s world upside down.
They flipped centers onto him, they abandoned him when he stood past the 3-point line. They questioned his decisions, and as a result, he seemingly did too.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault never acted on removing Giddey from a starting lineup he’s hindered at times. Instead, he’s pushed Giddey to make quicker decisions and put him in different actions.
There are admittedly still blemishes and rim attempts that evoke face palms. But Giddey has seemingly turned a corner this past week — in his decision making, in his role, in his confidence.
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“He’s doing exactly what I expected,” fellow Thunder guard Gilgeous-Alexander said of Giddey after a 124-108 win against the Nets on Sunday night. “I said this before, every young player gets thrown different looks and has to adjust, especially early in their careers. I’ve had to go through it. … Josh did exactly what he was supposed to do. Learn from it, get better and attack it.”
A game removed from some lightbulb moments in Denver, Giddey added 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and made 4 of his 8 3-point attempts on Sunday. Drilling his open 3s surely helped, but his touch passing and overall feel of where to be and how to move off the ball has improved.
Through his past eight games, Giddey is shooting 56.7% from the field and 41.2% from 3, up from his 44.8% and 32.9% from deep on the season.
He’s not an entirely different player. But he’s seemingly adjusted to the way defenses have played him — Brooklyn center Nic Claxton defended him at times Sunday.
Perhaps one play fittingly defined his day. With five minutes left to play, Giddey delivered a touch pass to a streaking Lu Dort, who attempted what might’ve been the wildest dunk of his career. After it careened off the rim, Giddey charged toward the ball and an offensive rebound, ending in the Dort 3 that finished off a middling Nets team.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Josh Giddey is turning a corner in OKC Thunder lineup
