Thunder fall 124-116 in Detroit after injuries sideline top six scorers
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DETROIT — The Oklahoma City Thunder entered Wednesday night’s matchup with the Detroit Pistons minus five of their six leading scorers and finished the 124-116 defeat without any of them on the floor.
Head coach Mark Daigneault already lacked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdomen), Jalen Williams (hamstring), Ajay Mitchell (abdomen), Chet Holmgren (back) and Isaiah Hartenstein (calf). Isaiah Joe, who averages 11.0 points, was the lone member of that group in uniform, and forward Lu Dort was the only regular starter available.
Oklahoma City managed a 34-22 lead after the opening quarter, but Detroit answered with a 36-18 second period—Oklahoma City’s worst single-quarter margin of the season—to move in front 58-52 at halftime.
Things unraveled further when Joe left with a hip injury and two-way center Branden Carlson exited with a back issue during the break, stripping the defending champions of every one of their top six scorers.
Detroit, which leads the Eastern Conference, pushed the cushion to 92-75 late in the third. The Thunder cut the deficit to three in the fourth before the Pistons pulled away by dominating the glass.
Center Jaylin Williams carried Oklahoma City’s offense, scoring a career-high 30 points, including 14 in the final quarter. “He showed great toughness and, obviously, great offense,” Daigneault said. “We really flowed through him, and against a team that pressures like Detroit, he was a great help for us.”
Daigneault praised the patchwork lineup’s effort. “We obviously had the wind in our faces a little out there tonight,” he said. “I thought it was a really good effort by the guys who played to gut that one out. The game got away from us a little bit in the third, and it looked like it was going to be a runaway, but our guys did a great job of getting back into it.”
Detroit’s victory offered a glimpse of a potential NBA Finals matchup, though Oklahoma City hopes to have its roster intact well before then.
Source: ESPN
