Close loss to Hawks shows OKC Thunder aims to squeeze 'all the juice out of the season'
ATLANTA — Mark Daigneault didn’t want to blame it on the Thunder’s late arrival to Atlanta early Wednesday morning.
Less than 24 hours removed from toppling the Celtics and essentially snagging the final infinity stone from a three-week juggernaut of a stretch, the Thunder was back on the road.
Expected to barge into State Farm Arena and continue the display that’s forced people to mutter forbidden phrases like “deep run” and “MVP,” OKC hardly had a leg to play on in its 141-138 loss to the Hawks.
What else could Daigneault point to? The young Thunder arrived just before the sun did, but it didn’t spend the night recreating their version of "Project X". Chet Holmgren seems more "Home Alone" than "House Party."
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The pressures of the Thunder’s recent showcasing and ensuing expectations came with a toll. And a back-to-back. One that saw it fall flat on its face Wednesday.
OKC’s first quarter marked one of its worst starts of the season; At one point it was 0 for 6 with three turnovers through the first four and a half minutes.
Atlanta, who entered the game 4-9 at home this season, didn’t waste the opportunity. Four Hawks scored at least 20 points. Jalen Johnson posted a team-high 28 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Trae Young managed 24 points, 11 assists, and to put any defender of his choice in hell early on.
He’s mastered that — the balance and body control to time when he thrusts himself into defenders and distorts the pace of the game.
“He’s a superstar,” rookie Cason Wallace said. “They get those calls from what I’ve seen so far in the league.”
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The Hawks shot 50.5% from the field, 14 for 39 from 3, 31 for 33 from the free-throw line (OKC shot 18) and reminded the Thunder of its underlying rebounding issues.
Manipulative Trent Forrest pick-and-rolls, Garrison Matthews and-1s. Atlanta left no stone unturned in its attack. The Thunder looked a step behind nearly on all of it.
“They didn't do anything they don't do to everybody,” Daigneault said. “But it's hard, it's like hitting a 90-mph fastball. ... It just requires unbelievable energy in order to slow that down, and even if you do they can still get on a heater and have a good one. We didn’t have enough tonight.”
It’s a heap to handle for a team whose starters shot 2 for 14 in the first quarter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, even in what felt like one of his worst performances of the season, poured in 33 points on 11-for-24 shooting with 13 rebounds and eight assists. The Thunder offense, which was held afloat by its bench — 49 points, 19 for 32 from the field and 9 for 21 from deep — eventually came to its senses.
But even after a late run and after-timeout play that left Isaiah Joe a twitch of an index finger away from sending things to overtime, it was clear those senses spiked too late.
The Thunder had already been a shell of itself.
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No cigar for Thunder this time
Daigneault drew it up as well as he could.
He’d use Josh Giddey to inbound. Jalen Williams to cut as a decoy. Joe to drift into a passable shot.
It all unfolded the way he’d envisioned. All except the miss.
Williams, who stumbled while sealing off Hawks forward Saddiq Bey, zipped a pass to a moving Joe. He leaned while chucking a shot he’s surely practiced. A good look, mostly because of how oblivious Trent Forrest was.
The sequence that put the clipboard in Daigneault’s hands was unfathomable. Gilgeous-Alexander rattled off nine straight points inside the final 1:37. When fans looked up, OKC had a shot.
It isn’t the first time the Thunder has tried to erase a blunder with a stunning chance at stealing a late win this season. It probably won’t be the last.
Daigneault noted that he still finds value in a run that ends up becoming too-little-too-late.
“Every time a game goes by, that’s one less opportunity to have,” Daigneault said. “We want to be a team that just squeezes all the juice out of the season, every single minute we can play.
“There’s also lessons from this game. If at any point in the game, if we’d just gotten a little bit tighter, or if we started a little bit better, it could’ve been a different night obviously.”
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Thunder tip-ins
With the Hawks posting 141 points, Wednesday marked the first time in NBA history that five teams scored at least 140 points, per ESPN.
Atlanta’s 33 free-throw attempts were the fourth most of any Thunder opponent this season. Only the 76ers, Cavaliers and Mavericks shot more versus OKC.
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Thunder vs. Nets
TIPOFF: 6:30 p.m. Friday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Bally Sports Oklahoma)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder rally falls short vs. Hawks to snap 5-game winning streak
