OKC Thunder player grades:Thunder suffer blowout loss to Timberwolves

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost in rare blowout fashion against the Minnesota Timberwolves, 135-105.

The Thunder, who have been a top-half team in the league in terms of defensive rating this season, did a poor job in the first half containing the Timberwolves and specifically Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves, who scored just 98 points in the first meeting between these two teams on Wednesday, managed to get 73 points in the first half.

The second half did not see much of a change as the Timberwolves reached 100 points before the third quarter ended. The Thunder were able to keep up somewhat in the first half with 57 points, but the well eventually dried up as the team does not have the offensive firepower to match up in a high-scoring affair. This was seen in the third quarter where the Timberwolves were able to blow this game open as the Thunder struggled to score just 23 points.

Even with the lopsided loss, there were still a few bright spots for the Thunder that include encouraging performances from young players that are both established starters and unproven but exciting talent. Let’s take a look at player grades:

Lu Dort: A

Dort’s scoring increase this season has been one of the more positive developments this season as the 22-year-old averages career-highs in points, threes made per game and effective field goal percentage. With all that said, Dort has struggled with efficient shooting recently, averaging 13.4 points but on a poor 32.0 field goal percentage in his last 10 games. So Dort having an efficient scoring game was nice to see in an otherwise bad game. Dort finished with 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 3-of-7 from three.

Aaron Wiggins: A

The second-round rookie finished with another double digit scoring game as he finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Wiggins has now scored at least 10 points in seven straight games as he has laid claim to the starting four spot. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault did make an interesting decision at halftime to bench Wiggins and start Tre Mann.

“I view those as substitutions. Nothing more,” said Daigneault after the game about the decision. “It was more about getting Wiggins in that second unit.”

Alas, the adjustment died in vain and the Timberwolves were able to create more separation on the scoreboard in the second half without much issue.

Tre Mann: B+

Mann had one of his better games as he finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Mann’s ability to self-create shots was on display tonight and you can clearly see the rookie gain confidence whenever the basketball reaches him as the season has progressed. As mentioned earlier, Mann was given the starting nod in the second half to give the Thunder a smallball lineup.

Aleksej Pokusevski: B

All things considered, I thought Pokusevski did well in his 20 minutes this game as he finished with seven points and four rebounds. Pokusevski has received inconsistent minutes all season long and Daigneault self-admitted to coaching the 20-year-old hard, so it was nice to see the second-year-player have one of his better games of the season in an otherwise forgettable game.

Josh Giddey: C-

The scoring wasn’t there — as it isn’t on most nights — but Josh Giddey had a decent performance all things considered as he finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. Six shots in 30 minutes is too little for what is one of the three best players on the team. I understand Giddey’s shot is a work in progress, but that should not stop him from being more aggressive with his scoring. Even in a mediocre performance for his standards, Giddey did have a few highlight reel passes to show off that this game was not a total lost cause.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: D+

This was just a poor game overall for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as he finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting and six assists. You would like to see the best player on the team be more aggressive with his scoring and take more shots. Gilgeous-Alexander was very passive this game and that should be a credit to the Timberwolves defense, who gave him trouble for the second straight game. On Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 19 points but on 5-of-15 shooting.

On the playmaking front, while Gilgeous-Alexander did finish with six assists, the four turnovers kind of negates that. Overall, it was just a poor two games for Gilgeous-Alexander against the Timberwolves. But all things considered, bad games tend to happen and Thunder fans have no reason to think that this is anything bigger than just a bad couple of games.

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