Hamidou Diallo, obviously and appropriately, felt right at home.
Hailing from New York City’s borough of Queens, Diallo — along with the rest of his teammates — paid a visit to Madison Square Garden and helped the Thunder walk away from the contest with a 101-89 victory.
The New York Knicks have gotten off to a good start this season, but they couldn’t do much to stop Diallo, who ended the night having scored 23 points off the bench on 8-for-13 shooting from the field.
He also grabbed 11 rebounds in what was an incredible effort.
After the contest, Diallo spoke with Fox Sports Oklahoma’s Nick Gallo about his mindset heading into the contest, and how he helped the Thunder leave the Mecca with a 4-4 record on the season.
“I mean, that’s what it’s about. We come out here, we want to compete and we want to just leave it out on the floor,” Diallo said. “I feel like we did a great job of that today, we came in and played for 48 minutes and that’s what it takes.”
From a personal standpoint, it was obvious that Diallo had a little extra pep in his step. Perhaps the big night is a sign of things to come in the future.
“It’s something that I bring to the table,” he said of his energy. “Every given night, I gotta be the most competitive person on the floor and that’s a goal of mine.”
Plus 11 rebounds and a postgame chat with @nickgallo22 pic.twitter.com/odalGSV1VJ
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 9, 2021
Next up for the Thunder is a date with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.
For Diallo, that means two more nights of home cooking, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of effort he turns in when Oklahoma City meets head coach Steve Nash and his talented squad.
“Just keep getting better, just keep getting better, staying confident in myself and just going out there and taking what the defense gives me,” Diallo said of his mindset heading into the contest in Brooklyn.
“I feel like at times, I tend to force things, but I’m getting better at that and just gonna keep getting better each and every day so it’s a great team win and just can’t wait to get back home.”
He may consider Oklahoma City to be his home, but on Friday night, he sure looked comfortable at Madison Square Garden.
