Handing out Game Balls for Oklahoma City s 110-104 loss to the Pistons
Despite the loss, the future looks bright in OKC due to the recent performances of a pair of young Thunder building blocks
Author:
Apr 17, 2021
The Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off a four game road trip with massive draft implications on Friday night in Detroit, but succumbed to the Pistons 110-104 behind a big third quarter in the Motor City.
Though before the game head coach
Mark Daigneualt said
Darius Bazley and
Luguentz Dort stepped up to try and snap the Thunder’s losing streak.
Ultimately unsuccessful, Bazley and Dort have played well since each returned from their respective injuries, giving hope that there are more steps forward for them to take as they continue to develop early on in their careers.
Apr 16, 2021
In Friday night’s contest against the Detroit Pistons, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell short once again, increasing their losing streak to nine.
Oklahoma City led most of the first half, but by halftime let Detroit tie the game at 56 behind 15 points from
Josh Jackson.
Darius Bazley came out of the gates hot with ten points in the first quarter on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor.
“We gotta be ready from the jump,” said Bazley “Insert ourselves on the defensive end.”
After a slow start offensively,
Lu Dort picked up where he left off the past few games offensively and led the Thunder with 11 first half points. After a solid third quarter for the Pistons, they extended a seven point lead heading into the final quarter.
Here were the bright spots in Oklahoma City’s defeat in Utah.
Game Ball: Lu Dort
Dort obviously stole the show setting his career high and becoming only the sixth player in Thunder history to cross the 40-point threshold.
Finishing 16-of-31 from the field, Dort also finished with seven rebounds, three assists and four steals.
But not only did Dort dazzle offensively, he still put in his usual great shift on the defensive end of the floor as well.
Donovan Mitchell was held to 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting, well below his standards as of late. Dort’s defense helped the Thunder get off to their hot start too, holding Mitchell to two points in the opening quarter where Dort played all but two seconds.
Deck has averaged 7.3 points per game over the course of his career, spending time in the EuroLeague and Liga ACB, as well as participating in the Olympics and the FIBA World Cup for Argentina. Most recently, Deck averaged 8.5 points per game for Real Madrid of the EuroLeague, helping them earn a playoff spot. This included a 19-point performance on 3-for-7 from deep in his final game with the team. A solid threat from beyond the arc, he s converted on over 40 percent of his threes.
Deck is working through the immigration process and there’s an expectation that he will arrive in Oklahoma City to join the Thunder in the near future. On a rebuilding team, the 6-foot-8 forward is a bit older than the majority of the team, but Thunder General Manager
Pokusevski out, Deck not with team for Thunder s matchup against Jazz
Rookie Aleksej Pokusevski is was listed as out and new signee Gabriel Deck won t be with the team for the road matchup against the Utah Jazz
Author:
Apr 12, 2021
Six players were listed on Oklahoma City’s injury report Monday night, including two new additions in recently acquired
Gabriel
Isaiah
Roby (concussion protocol), were also listed.
Deck, who was signed to a $14.5 million over the next four years on Monday, was listed as “Not With Team.” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Monday that Deck is working through the immigration process and there’s an expectation that he will arrive in Oklahoma City to join the team in the near future.