After recent late letdowns, Thunder dominate 4th quarter in win over Raptors
In the loss to the Memphis Grizzlies a week ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder led midway through the third quarter before falling apart and losing. Against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, the OKC went into the fourth with a lead but only managed 14 points in the final frame.
Against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, the Thunder flipped the script, holding the Raptors to just 14 fourth-quarter points to get a comeback 113-103 victory.
“Tonight I thought we did it with stops,” Daigneault said. “We kept them off the scoreboard and held them to one shot per possession down the stretch.”
Oklahoma City was able to do this short-handed. In addition to the absences of usual starters Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Darius Bazley and Al Horford, rookie Aleksej Pokusevski, backup guard Ty Jerome and big Mike Muscala were also injured.
This left nine active players, none of whom has a full season of starts under his belt, and only one of whom has even reached 60 total starts in his career.
But the Thunder absolutely dominated the glass, out-rebounding Toronto 64 to 35, and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, including seven from Moses Brown and four from Isaiah Roby.
“On the offensive [rebounding] end, I just thought it’s a good barometer of our competitiveness. I thought we made great extra efforts and kept balls alive,” Daigneault said. “I just thought we went after it. The competitive level was really, really good for 48 minutes.”
The rebounding, the tough second-half defense that prevented Pascal Siakam from getting back to the free throw line after he had 10 attempts in the first half, and a scoring outburst from Svi Mykhailiuk helped the Thunder put it away.
Here’s the fourth quarter, based on quotes from the team:
Mykhailiuk’s “fearlessness”
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Mykhailiuk, who had a team-high 22 points, scored 10 Thunder points in a row during the fourth quarter. This helped extend the Thunder from a one-point lead to an eight-point advantage with under six minutes to play. “Svi’s been great. The thing that’s probably stood out the most to me about his game is his fearlessness on offense. He’s not bashful,” said Isaiah Roby. “He knows exactly what his role is, he knows what he’s good at, he attacks the game.” He finished with four 3-pointers, but also had nine rebounds and a pair of blocks. Daigneault has said multiple times over Mykhailiuk’s first few games with OKC that the team sees him as more than just a shooter. “Our scouts told us when we acquired him is that he’s a basketball player and that there’s a lot there on both ends of the floor and that he’s more versatile than maybe he gets credit for,” Daigneault said. He showed that again on Wednesday, playing a key role in the Thunder's win.
"I give Theo a lot of credit.”
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Theo Maledon did not have a good game. His line looks solid – he posted 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists – but he made just three of 16 shots from the field. The Raptors forced Maledon to his off-hand frequently, and this contributed to his four turnovers. Yet Daigneault, unprompted, praised Maledon for his fourth-quarter play. "I give Theo a lot of credit. I didn’t think Theo played great in the game. He had a couple plays that he was frustrated with … they really pressured him, they forced him directionally to his weak hand the entire night,” he said. “There was a lot of adversity in that game, and then he checked back with about five minutes to go and was really steady down the stretch and really managed the possession game for us.” After a turnover immediately after re-entering, Maledon hit an and-one layup, grabbed an offensive board after one of his own misses and found Roby for 3, and made a pair of late free throws. Without Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder need a stabilizer. That’s a lot to ask out of a rookie second-round pick, but Daigneault was pleased with the way Maledon finished on Wednesday.
“We expect every player on the team to be a playmaker.”
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On the note of Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder handled the fourth without all those players who are so accustomed to getting important minutes. Oklahoma City did not do a good job on offense against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. They struggled to create and struggled to score. Against the Raptors, the ball flowed easier. Daigneault’s message about playmaking is telling about the way the front office constructed the roster: "We expect every player on the team to be a playmaker. We want the ball to move. We want everybody to be aggressive and play for the team,” Daigneault said. “I thought Isaiah did that tonight, I thought Svi did that tonight, obviously Theo. Moses Brown – they trapped Svi late game, we threw it out to Moses, which is not a comfortable position for him, and he found Theo for a wide-open 3. It’s an expectation if you’re on the court for us that you compete and you play with the team, and that that if you have the ball, you’re a playmaker. It doesn’t matter who you are.” Brown was asked about this play after the game. His main showing this season has been on the glass and around the rim, and his main improvements need to come on the defensive end, but if he is to be a long-term piece of the Thunder, he’ll have to at least have playmaking competency. “Coach talks to us a lot about solving the problem with five guys. Not one person out there just trying to make the heroic play,” Brown said. Josh Hall, another player who joined on a two-way deal, had a career-high four assists, and Justin Jackson had three. Even without a point guard coming off the bench, the Thunder moved the ball well. Then came Darius Miller, who had his first action since March 16. He scored 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting and made 3 triples. Miller is now up to 42.4% from 3 this season on 33 attempts. He doesn’t often get called, but managed to stay ready. “We always kind of have that joke, like, he’s the best shooter in the world, so anytime he shoots the ball, we all think it’s going on,” Roby said.
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