Three Takeaways From OKC Thunder’s Blowout Loss to Hornets

The Oklahoma City Thunder were shocked by the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night in Paycom Center, losing 124-97. This is OKC’s second loss in as many days, losing last night in Phoenix to the Suns 108-105.

The Thunder’s record is now 30-7 and they are 6-6 in their last 12 games. The No. 1 seed in the Western Conference is playing its worst stretch of basketball in over two years.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points on 7-of-21 shooting to keep his 20-point streak alive. OKC shot a rough 28.2% from three-point range and 66.7% from the charity stripe.

Here are three takeaways from the Thunder’s 27-point home loss.

1. Inability to Make Shots

The glaring struggle for the Thunder tonight was on offense, with the team shooting 36.6% from the floor and 28.2% from three-point range. It’s difficult for any team to win shooting that poorly in a game.

The Thunder found open look after open look across the perimeter, but were unable to convert at a high rate. The Hornets were able to consistently help off of perimeter shooters to bring more defensive attention around Gilgeous-Alexander and inside the paint.

Poor shooting creates poor spacing and poor spacing creates ugly offensive execution. Poor spacing and shooting defined OKC’s woes against Charlotte.

2. Young and Hungry Hornets

Charlotte was by far the more energetic team in its win, amped up on both ends from start to finish, flying in for every loose ball. The young team came in looking to send Loud City home unhappy and they succeeded.

The Thunder were on the back end of an away/home back-to-back, having to quickly fly in from Phoenix to prepare for the game. The Hornets smelt blood in the water early, taking the game from their very first run.

After the game was tied at 33 at the end of the first quarter, Charlotte blazed into a 23-7 run throughout a large part of the second quarter to grasp a firm control of the flow of the game. The Thunder’s struggling offense could not find any momentum to claw back into the hole they fell into.

Charlotte’s shooting performance was remarkable from distance. With a plethora of shots taken with great difficulty, the Hornets managed to shoot 51.4% from three-point range.

The Hornets came in hungry and caught the reigning champions by surprise.

3. Gilgeous-Alexander Keeps Streak Alive Amid Struggles

Gilgeous-Alexander scoring above 20 points, with 21, to keep his historic 20-point streak alive, is the lone positive from a rough loss. Despite struggling through constant full-court pressure and double teams from the Hornets, the reigning MVP was able to muster just enough to keep his hunt for the record alive.

Gilgeous-Alexander shot 7-of-21 from the floor and 1-of-6 from three in the loss, adding six assists to his totals. He was OKC’s only 20-point scorer on the night.

The Canadian’s streak of scoring 20-or-more points now sits at 108 games, 18 behind Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126.