OKC Thunder players: The Thunder lose by winning its game against the Magic, 118-102

Technically speaking, the Oklahoma City Thunder won its game against the Orlando Magic, 118-102. But in reality, this was one of the biggest losses of the season due to the reverse standings implications.

Thanks to a 10-game losing streak, the Thunder were able to make up a lot of ground and essentially lock up top-four lottery odds. The losing streak combined with the fact that the Magic and Detroit Pistons started winning games recently created a real possibility of the Thunder getting important top-three lottery odds. In fact, if the Thunder would’ve lost this game, it would’ve been tied for the second-best lottery odds with the Pistons after Detroit blew out the Atlanta Hawks.

Alas, the Thunder come up short of reaching the elusive top-three lottery odds. Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s over —  the Thunder are just one game back from the third spot with nine games left in the regular season. But for the Thunder to be so close to getting top-two lottery odds — even if it’s for one night — and to not get it is a tough pill to swallow for the fanbase who are tank enthusiasts.

In terms of the actual game, the Thunder were able to use a 20-2 run in the second quarter to claw back from a 13-point deficit and the team was able to grow a comfortable lead for the rest of the game. The Thunder were on cruise control for most of the second half and the Magic just continued to brick shots and play sloppy basketball when given the chance to mount a comeback.

The Thunder — who were missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander due to a sore right ankle — were led by the likes of Tre Mann and Theo Maledon for this win. The Thunder essentially played this game with G League talent and were able to win against an NBA team — even if it’s one as bad as the Magic. Let’s take a look at player grades.

Tre Mann: A

With Gilgeous-Alexander out, Tre Mann was going to have the brightest green light possible this season. But unlike the previous game that featured similar circumstances, Mann was able to take advantage and have a solid scoring game with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Mann also shot the ball well from outside as he went 3-of-6 from deep.

Mann has had a strong recent string of games and looks to finish his rookie campaign on a good note.

Theo Maledon: A+

This is some pretty bad timing for Theo Maledon to have one of his best games of the season from a franchise perspective but he still deserves credit for playing well. Maledon finished with a season-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting along with six assists and four rebounds.

Maledon was able to close this game out for the Thunder with a strong second half and took advantage of the opportunity this game game provided him being a primary scorer and playmaker.

Isaiah Roby: A

Much like the previous two mentioned, Isaiah Roby was able to taker advantage of an increased offensive role this game with the amount of injuries the Thunder is currently dealing with. Roby finished the game with 21 points on 5-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. Roby was able to draw fouls as he went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Who knows if Roby is going to be in Oklahoma City next season, but this is some solid tape to put out there to the rest of the league that he can stay on an NBA court.

Aleksej Pokusevski: B

While the shot didn’t fall as some of them weren’t even near the rim, Aleksej Pokusevski was able to still have a solid overall game as he finished with six points, eight rebounds, four assists and a couple of blocks and steals. Pokusevski was able a plus-13, the highest among all of the starters.

This is a much better performance for Pokusevski against the Magic after last time out featured a seven point, 3-of-20 ugly outing. Even without the Thunder having its top players, Pokusevski was still able to leave a positive mark in this game.

Vit Krejci: B+

Vit Krejci recorded his first career double-double as he finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Krejci scored all of his points from three as he went 4-of-6. Krejci was part of the bench mob that finished with 52 total points and kept the Magic far enough from the score to make this a relatively comfortable win.

Tanking efforts: F-

Once again, this loss is going to sting and probably have long-term implications for the Thunder’s tank job. Which is such a gut punch as the team’s now-broken-10-game losing streak went a long way for the Thunder to basically guarantee itself top-four lottery odds.

But the chances of getting the second best odds, which would have been a pipe dream just a month ago, was right there. Now of course, the Thunder still have plenty of time to make up a one game and 1.5 game difference to catch up for third and second best odds, but this one is going to sting, at least for the immediate future.

The good news is that the Thunder’s floor is probably the fourth-best odds, which isn’t too bad in itself and was in serious question not that long ago with other teams joining the tanking race recently. But still, having a real shot to get top-three lottery odds is always the goal if you are a rebuilding team.

Story originally appeared on Thunder Wire