Three Takeaways From Oklahoma City’s Enthralling Win Over Golden State

After a neck-and-neck fourth quarter, the Oklahoma City Thunder just narrowly managed to get past the Golden State Warriors on the road.

Oklahoma City had jumped out of the gates with a 39-23 after the first quarter, but Golden State quickly battled back to bring it within double digits. Ultimately, the Thunder reigned supreme in a final score of 105-101.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 35 points, nine rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block on 13-of-28 shooting from the field. The guard struggled with 3-of-12 shooting from 3-point range, but he was able to push the pace offensively in other areas to give him the edge over the Warriors.

Without Stephen Curry, the Golden State offense plummeted — shooting nearly 36% from the field and 32% from behind the arc.

Here are three takeaways from the Thunder’s four-point victory:

Even though Oklahoma City left Chase Center with a win, struggles from the free-throw line kept it far closer than it needed to be.

The Thunder made just 16 of their 26 free throw attempts, good for a measly 61.5%. Gilgeous-Alexander shot an uncharacteristically poor 6-of-10, while Jalen Williams didn’t fare much better with 5-of-8.

One of those misses came with seven seconds remaining in the game, where Gilgeous-Alexander missed his first of two attempts after a foul from Buddy Hield. However, he knocked down his following three attempts to secure the win for Oklahoma City.

Shooting anywhere near 60% shooting on free throws is less than ideal though, regardless of the outcome being in the Thunder’s favor. It’ll be an area it wants to clean up before it goes against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

Between the free throws and a 11-of-37 — or 29.7% — finish from the 3-point arc, it was a win that’s ugly as they come for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder struggled to find offense against a depleted Warriors squad without Curry, which on paper, it should’ve had an easier time going up against. Golden State was led by Jonathan Kuminga’s 19 points on 8-of-21 shooting, and Andrew Wiggins also struggled with 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

It was undoubtedly a strong defensive effort for Oklahoma City, especially in regards to Isaiah Hartenstein and Luguentz Dort. As a whole, it finished with 10 steals and nine blocks on the night — adding to its high number of stocks throughout the season.

On offense, the Thunder did leave a lot to be desired, but it’ll take any win it can get in a tough Western Conference. After Wednesday night, it remains in the No. 1 seed with a one-game advantage on the Houston Rockets.

It seems that Oklahoma City can’t escape the injury bug this season, and it tends to happen against the Warriors.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Chet Holmgren awkwardly landed on his hip after making contact with Wiggins, leaving him with a hip fracture that will keep him out for most of the year. After last night’s win, Williams suffered a similar fate.

Kuminga went up for a slam dunk at the end of the first half, and Williams decided to challenge. However, Kuminga’s hand went right into his face on the play, causing a right eye injury that ruled him out for the rest of the game.

It’s unclear how serious the injury is nor how long it will leave him out of action, but it’s yet another blow that the Thunder has dealt with in that department. It still left with a victory in its hands, but if Williams would have played the entirety of the game, the outcome could’ve been much simpler.

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