The Oklahoma City Thunder were unable to overcome the hot outside shooting from the Dallas Mavericks in a 121-114 loss on Monday.
Despite the Thunder shooting better from the field, the 3-point shot was the difference for the Mavericks.
The Thunder went 42-of-88 (47.7%) from the field but 10-of-31 (32.3%) from 3. Meanwhile, the Mavericks went 39-of-93 (41.9%) from the field but 22-of-54 (40.7%) from 3.
The 36-point difference from outside was enough for the Mavericks to make up for shortcomings in other areas of the game against the Thunder.
The matchup between top-three scorers in Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander more than lived up to the hype.
Doncic finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 42 points.
The 2018 NBA draft classmates continue to put up monster numbers on their respective teams.
Alas, Gilgeous-Alexander’s career night was not enough for the Thunder as their next leading scorer, Jalen Williams, had just 17 points.
Outside of Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 20 points and Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 20 points and 10 assists.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
At this point, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has normalized these types of performances.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 42 points on an efficient 14-of-23 shooting and went a perfect 13-of-13 from the free-throw line. The league leader in drives once again did most of his damage inside the paint. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 1-of-4 on non-paint 2s and 1-of-2 from 3.
Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his scoring damage in the second half: He scored 27 points in 21 minutes.
While it’s not directly related to Gilgeous-Alexander’s awesome night, I think Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault made a great decision at putting his star guard back in with nine minutes to go.
The Thunder were down by 12 points and it felt as if the game was slipping away. Despite Gilgeous-Alexander being in foul trouble with four fouls, the Thunder needed him back to keep hopes of a win alive.
During recent games, Gilgeous-Alexander usually sits the first half of the fourth quarter, but the Thunder were afforded that luxury because their non-SGA lineups to start fourth quarters have surprisingly done well.
That was not the case this game. The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter on an 11-6 run.
Despite the loss, it was a great call by Daigneault. There’s no point in conserving Gilgeous-Alexander’s fouls if the game is out of reach by the time he checks back in.
😤😤😤 pic.twitter.com/zc6IKIpGog
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
SGA with the quick deflection to steal and score pic.twitter.com/YzyCdJ80Dd
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
Count it! pic.twitter.com/O2vdTGDwIz
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
It's say often but…that's TOUGH Shai 🥶@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/5SHuCAAliu
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 13, 2022
SGA powers in for the finish 💪 pic.twitter.com/AFlt6R0V1j
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
Jalen Williams: A-minus
The Thunder went small with their starting lineup as Jalen Williams was given the starting nod at the four spot.
I think the move paid off. Williams was the best non-SGA player for the Thunder on Monday. In 38 minutes, Williams finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and dished four assists.
While the Thunder were outscored by 21 points in Williams’ 38 minutes, easily the worst mark of the game, it’s hard to solely pin that on the rookie wing. When watching the game, it did not feel like Williams was a detriment to the Thunder and him playing nearly 40 minutes reflects the coaching staff holding similar beliefs.
Lay it in ➡️ draw a charge
JDub getting it done on both ends! pic.twitter.com/gBVbo5uhH1
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
Josh Giddey: B
Josh Giddey had a strong scoring start: seven points on 3-of-5 shooting in the first quarter. But he scored just seven points on 3-of-8 shooting the rest of the way.
Overall, Giddey finished with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, five rebounds, four assists and four turnovers in 31 minutes.
The good news for Giddey is he continues to shoot the three-ball well, going 2-of-2 from outside. In five December games, Giddey is 10-of-20 (50%) from 3.
ZERO time wasted from Josh Giddey ⏰
There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/vJhzTAYT9N
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 13, 2022
Isaiah Joe: B-plus
There’s something about Dallas that brings the best out of Isaiah Joe.
After helping lead the Thunder to an overtime win the last time these teams met in Dallas in October, Joe had another excellent game.
In 21 minutes, Joe finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3 and grabbed a season-high seven rebounds.
In 199 minutes this season, Joe is shooting 32-of-68 (47.1%) from 3. When the Thunder need quick scoring, Joe comes off the bench and provides.
Joe connects on another from downtown 👌 pic.twitter.com/zqTvxgxnrG
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
SPLASH 💦
Thunder pushes the pace! pic.twitter.com/YWDmiO1vYG
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
Lu Dort: D
This was not Lu Dort’s best scoring game as he was the most criticized player by Thunder fans.
In 34 minutes, Dort finished with 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting and went 1-of-6 from 3. Dort grabbed seven rebounds but fouled five times and turned the ball over four times.
While I understand fans’ frustration with Dort’s quick trigger, especially in games like these, but this comes with the territory of high-volume streaky shooters. Especially in Dort’s case where it feels like he’s having a great shooting game or is ice cold. Seldom do we get a happy medium.
Oddly, Dort was plus-6 for the Thunder. It goes to show that using plus-minus can be extremely faulty when grading individual performances.
Lu got loose on this one pic.twitter.com/qHwe8xhjt3
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 13, 2022
