Strong Thunder defense leads charge over Knicks, RJ Barrett

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s defense dismantled the New York Knicks, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got hot in the third quarter and finished the game with 25 points, and guard Hamidou Diallo produced 23 off the bench for OKC in a 101-89 victory on Friday.

After a slow start offensively in which both teams scored only 42 points in the first half, the Thunder picked it up in the second. They outscored the Knicks 59-47 in the final two quarters to get the win.

The OKC defense was very strong throughout. Knicks wing RJ Barrett played 44 minutes but only made seven of 21 shots for a 19 points, primarily being guarded by Luguentz Dort. No Knicks player reached 20 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Thunder’s performance that evened their record at .500.

Defense was key

The first thing to be said is the points in the paint differential. The Thunder have struggled to guard teams down low this season. Entering the night, they allowed 51.5 points per game in the paint, the fourth-most in the league. New York was getting 54% of its points in the paint entering the night, according to the Thunder broadcast. On Friday, though, the Thunder defended down low well. They held the Knicks to 38 points and scored 42 themselves to take the advantage. Julius Randle only hit two buckets in the paint. Barrett made six, but he missed seven. “Our job, really, was to stay in front [of Barrett]. All the shots to be contested, and to box out because he always goes for a second shot,” Dort said. “As a team I feel like we did a great job on him.” The Thunder also held the large edge on the boards. They outrebounded New York 62-48, and it wasn’t just the bigs pulling them down. Diallo led the team with 11 while Gilgeous-Alexander had 10, four of which were on the offensive glass. The Knicks shot just 35.8% from the field and made nine of 27 3-pointers. Oklahoma City, after the slow start, increased their shooting percentages to 43.7% from the field and 11-for-34 from deep. Oklahoma City’s defense was very strong at the beginning of the season but then tapered off over the next few games. It rounded out into form against New York and was the best it had played all year. Dort wasn’t quite satisfied, though. “We did a pretty good job. We could’ve been better in our shell rolls and stuff,” he said. “But we did a good job securing rebounds. Overall it was good.”

SGA got hot when he got aggressive

Gilgeous-Alexander did not hit a field goal over the first 20 minutes of the game, only scoring two points at the free throw line before draining a pair of 3s near the end of the first half. It wasn’t because he was missing. He wasn’t taking many shots. In the first quarter, two of his attempts got blocked and another sent him to the free throw line. In the second quarter, he checked in at the 4:46 mark. He missed a layup before hitting the two 3-pointers. Those were all the shots he took. He was driving to the lane fine, but his angles weren’t always there. Instead of fighting through to draw the foul or attempt a shot that may not have been as on-line as he liked, he tended to kick it out to shooters instead. It didn’t produce much, as the team was ice cold. In the third quarter, that reversed. Gilgeous-Alexander went 6-for-7 from the field, all of which were inside the arc and all but one were in the paint. He finished difficult looks, including a floater in which he hung in the air at an awkward angle. https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1347726386295939072 “He’s carrying a heavier load than he’s ever carried,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “There’s a smoothing process, I think, for that, in terms of when to be aggressive, when to facilitate, when to organize. And I thought tonight he just had an unbelievable balance.” Gilgeous-Alexander shouldn’t be afraid to take the shot or draw contact when down low. In doing so, he won’t only score more, he’ll create more space for shooters when he gets to the lane. Like this: https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1347733589773979653 Not that scoring or passing was an issue in this game. He finished with 25 points and seven assists, flirting with a triple-double. Gilgeous-Alexander came alive in the second half and pushed the Thunder to victory. When afforded the space by defenders, most of whom will try to double-team him, though, he could look to shoot inside more often.

Bench continues to come through

Coming into the season, it looked like the bench was going to struggle to give productive minutes, but for the second game in a row they carried the Thunder in a slow first half. Their effort in the second quarter specifically allowed the Thunder starters to keep the game tied going into halftime. Diallo broke out for 23 points and 11 rebounds in his homecoming and shot 8-for-13 from the field while making a 3-pointer. “The way that he showed up tonight, that’s how we want him to play every night,” Dort said. Aleksej Pokusevski, who missed the last two games due to a concussion, scored more points on Friday than he had the entire season. He had seven points on 3-for-5 shooting and made a 3-pointer; entering the night, he had scored five total points and made only two field goals. He was 1-for-16 from 3 and 1-for-5 from 2 entering the night. With seven points and six boards in 19 minutes, he had his best game as an NBA player. Mike Muscala departed the game early due to a rib contusion, forcing Isaiah Roby to check in for four minutes in the fourth quarter. He scored four points, for which Daigneault praised him afterward. “I give Roby credit because I told him earlier today he wasn’t going to be in the rotation, but to stay ready,” he said. “It takes until the fourth quarter for him to enter the game, and he went in there and spotted us three or four really good minutes. All six bench players finished with a positive plus-minus while three starters were in the negatives. Their runs heavily influenced the victory. “We can count on a lot of guys to raise the level,” Theo Maledon said. “That’s one thing that shows that, and we gotta keep going.”

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