OKC Thunder player grades: Thunder basically seals fate with fourth-best lottery odds in overtime win over Trail Blazers

Despite this officially being a win in the books for the Oklahoma City Thunder, this felt like a massive loss for the fanbase. The Thunder were able to mount a fourth-quarter comeback to tie this game and win in overtime over the Portland Trail Blazers, 134-131.

To call this a gut punch is an understatement. Considering that both teams had injury reports longer than the total players who were actually active in this game, it was pretty clear that both franchises saw this game as a must-lose situation. It’s just impossible to even understand what else the Thunder could do to tank; all eight players available on Monday played significant G League minutes this season with one of them even returning from a fractured foot. There’s literally nothing left that the Thunder could do to lower its odds to win games. Yet somehow the Trail Blazers were able to outdo them in the tanking category and manage to blow an eight-point lead late in the game.

Just scrolling through Twitter, this win is really hitting the fanbase hard and is easily the low point of the season. Which is completely understandable. The Thunder have had serious chances to get top-three lottery odds for a few games now and they just can’t get there due to costly wins against the Orlando Magic and now the Trail Blazers. It’s deflating to see the entire purpose of the season vanish in thin air during just a three-game span.

Now it looks like the Thunder will most likely finish with the fourth-best lottery odds for a second consecutive season. Which makes the rebuild that much more complicated. Congrats to players like Isaiah Roby and Theo Maledon, who understandably played their hearts out as both try to carve out NBA careers, even if it’s not in Oklahoma City, but man, this one is going to sting a ton. The vibes on Twitter are the same ones of last year’s regular-season finale win against the LA Clippers, where the Thunder shot themselves in the foot with their lottery odds winning a meaningless game in the grand scheme of things. So for the same thing to happen twice in as many seasons is quite deflating as the fanbase knows that the route to returning to being a title contender is with elite talent drafted highly. Let’s take a look at player grades.

Isaiah Roby: A+

This was easily Isaiah Roby’s best game in his three-season career as he scored a career-high 30 points on an efficient 11-of-13 shooting. This famously included him hitting one of the most difficult threes possible late in regulation to tie the game back up and eventually send it to overtime.

Roby, who isn’t known for his outside shooting, shot 4-of-5 from deep. Roby also scored 13 points in the final 17 minutes of the game with seven of those coming in overtime. Like I said earlier, it’s ridiculous for Thunder fan to be directly upset at Roby for doing his job and trying to extend his NBA stay, but it’s hard not to acknowledge just how deflating Roby’s three was to tie a game that looked like was in the bag in terms of an important loss just a few possessions earlier.

Theo Maledon: A+

Theo Maledon has really been a thorn in the flesh for the Thunder fanbase in recent as he continues to put up efficient 20-point performances in games that the franchise needs to lose if it wants top-three lottery odds. In Monday’s edition, this included scoring 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting along with five assists and 10 rebounds.

In his last three games, Maledon has averaged 22.7 points on 51.2 percent shooting. Same case where Roby where it’s impossible to fault Maledon for taking advantage of his opportunity and being the lead scoring guard for the team, but man is it heartbreaking to see him go off in overtime and hit the game sealer to put this one to rest.

Aaron Wiggins: A+

[lawrence-newsletter]Aaron Wiggins led the team in scoring with 28 points on an economical 11-of-19 shooting. Wiggins also finished with a career-high six assists and five rebounds. Just like the previous two, with so many possessions and shots up for grabs with the amount of guys out, Wiggins took advantage of the opportunity and finished with a great scoring game.

This included seven overtime points and a game sealing layup during an inbound fiasco late in the game where players on both teams were bundled up like penguins trying to conserve body heat. Wiggins basically had a head start to run to the uncovered side of the court and get a free layup.

Aleksej Pokusevski: B

While the shot didn’t fall and he turned the ball over a bit too much, Aleksej Pokusevski had a solid game of 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 11 assists. Some of Pokusevski’s misses and turnovers were cartoonishly loud, but that comes with the territory with him. The mistakes were loud but rare and that should not take away from the decent body of work Pokusevski had in this unfortunate win.

Vit Krejci: B

Vit Krejci was given the starting nod and scored 12 points all on threes as he went 4-of-6 from deep. This included going a perfect 3-of-3 from three in the second half of the game and hit some timely buckets down the stretch.

Lindy Waters III: B-

Just like with Krejci, all 12 of Lindy Waters III’s points came from beyond the arc as he went 4-of-10 from that area. Waters III also added three assists but that was negated with his three turnovers.

Olivier Sarr: B+

Olivier Sarr actually had a decent game off the bench as the backup big finished with 12 points and five rebounds. All of his made field goals came within the paint as he went 5-of-7 from the field.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: B

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl made his return to the court since two months as he recovered from a fractured foot. In his limited 15 minutes, Robinson-Earl finished with six points and eight rebounds.

Story originally appeared on Thunder Wire