Big upset! The first in the West suffered a crushing defeat to the bottom of the league, and the Clippers reaped the benefits! Alexander scored 31 points
On January 29, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and in a game played in the early morning, the Thunder, the first in the West, challenged the Pistons at the bottom of the East away. Before this game, the Thunder had a 32-13 record, while the Pistons had a 5-40 record, the bottom of the league. The last time the two teams met, the Thunder beat their opponents by 12 points. This season, the Thunder are among the best in the league in all statistics, the offensive and defensive efficiency are the top four in the league, the average points per game are third in the league, the shooting rate is 50.3% + 6.4 blocks per game + 8.4 steals per game, both are second in the league, and the average score is 20 points per game, the first in the league! Compared with the past few seasons, the rapid growth of Jay + Holmgren this season has finally allowed Alexander to have more helper roles.
But the Thunder have one of the biggest problems, that is, they are very bad at rebounding, averaging 41.3 rebounds per game and only ranking 26th in the league, in addition to the team's lack of playoff experience, they have no problem making the playoffs this season, but they are likely to pay tuition. If it's time for the Thunder to cash in on their talent, the Pistons are nothing. The whole team is very good, Cunningham is the top pick, Ivey, Hayes, and Osar Thompson are all super lottery picks, but the team tends to play in silos and is very inefficient. The core of this game, Cunningham, continued to be absent, but it broke out a super upset! Pistons starters: Hayes + Ivey + Bogda + Stewart + Duren; Thunder starters: Alexander + Keady + Dort + Jew + Holmgren.
At the beginning of the game, Holmgren and Dort rained three-pointers, Hayes and Bogda took turns to make layups, but fortunately, Stewart responded with three points to stop the bleeding! Keady and Holmgren made easy layups, plus Alexander stepped back to make three-pointers, and the Thunder opened the game with a climax of 15-5 to open the difference. At the critical moment, Stewart forced Holmgren, Duren ate the cake and fried dunk, and Alexander and Jayway used singles to hold the lead, and the two sides fell into a tug-of-war. In the second half, the Thunder relied on Keady and Jay to score points, and after Bogda opened the mid-range shot, a three-point shot followed, and Burks also hit a three-pointer at the end of the quarter, and after the first quarter, the Pistons trailed the Thunder 24-31, and the Thunder couldn't grab the Pistons.
Back in the second quarter, the Thunder relied on Jay and Wiggins to continue to score, Knox hit consecutive singles, and Burks was unreasonable to meet Keady's bukkake three-pointer. After the Pistons easily equalized the score, the Thunder's Wiggins and Jewee blossomed inside and out, but Stewart and Thompson bit the score strongly. In the second half, Susser's three-pointer, Bogda's overtaking layup, Stewart's sky hook, and the Pistons instantly grasped the initiative. At the end of the quarter, Bogda and Ivey scored consecutive strong shots, and at the end of the half, the Pistons led the Thunder 70-61, and the Pistons scored 46 points in a single quarter! Bogda scored 15 points, Stewart scored 11 points, and Duren scored 10 points. On the Thunder's side, Alexander had 18 points and Jay had 12 points.
At the beginning of the second half, Jewi and Dort hit three-pointers, Ivey and Duren continued to hit the basket, Bogda hit the board with a difficult jumper, Duren threw himself and scored a three-pointer, Ivey grabbed a three-pointer again, and the Thunder was stunned again! The speed of the Pistons is not inferior to the Thunder, the rebounding ball is strong, and the efficiency improves quickly after the key young people play with confidence. In the middle of the period, Alexander scored 9 points in a row to stop the bleeding, the Pistons Hayes and Duren kept jumping back, and in the second half, when the Thunder chased down only 3 points, the Thunder veteran Muscala made a three-point shot to stop the bleeding, Ivey also blossomed inside and out, Morris hit a three-point shot on the outside, and the Pistons opened up the difference again with a wave of 13-2! After the third quarter, the Pistons led the Thunder 100-86.
In the fourth quarter, Jay led the Thunder to continue chasing points, but Osar's empty catch, Knox's jumper, Ivey's three-pointer, the Pistons could always respond, and the difference was always about 15 points. In the middle of the game, the Thunder was even more dumb offensively, losing backcourt rebounds in a row. After the Pistons opened a 19-point difference, the Thunder chose to give up voluntarily and surrendered, and then the Pistons did not give the Thunder a chance, and finally the Pistons beat the Thunder 120-104 at home!
Thunder statistics, Alexander 31 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Jay 20 points and 3 assists, Holmgren 9 points and 12 rebounds, Keady 12 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Pistons statistics, Duren 22 points, 21 rebounds and 6 assists, Ivey 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Bogda 17 points, Stewart 11 points, Burks 10 points and 6 rebounds, Suser 12 points. After this game, the Thunder and the Timberwolves have a record of 32-14, and the Clippers behind them have a record of 30-14, and tomorrow the Timberwolves and the Thunder will have a direct conversation, after which the Thunder will play against the Nuggets, and if the Clippers can win the next two games against the Cavaliers and the Wizards, they will be the first in the West in 4 days at the earliest!