Atlanta Hawks @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Monday, November 6, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK | Game ID: 22300155
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 29 29 38 30 126ATL 28 22 27 40 117
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30 as Thunder ease past Hawks 126-117
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Atlanta Hawks 126-117 on Monday night.
The Thunder's leading scorer sat out Friday against the Golden State Warriors with a sprained left knee. He bounced back quickly, making 11 of 20 shots and getting eight rebounds and six assists.
Gilgeous-Alexander was impressed with the way the Thunder played on offense in the 141-139 loss to Golden State , so he was careful not to disrupt things.
“I just tried to fit in with the group, do what was necessary, and then pick my spots accordingly,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who has scored at least 30 points in four of his six games. “I feel like we played pretty good basketball last game and wanted to carry it over to this game.”
Jalen Williams scored 21 points, Lu Dort added 19 and Chet Holmgren had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who were coming off losses of four points to New Orleans and two points to the Warriors.
Dejounte Murray scored 29 points for the Hawks, and Trae Young added 22 points and 11 assists not far from the campus where he starred for Oklahoma for a season.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the Thunder did a solid job against Young, who was 5 of 18 from the field. Dort was the primary defender, and blocked a 3-point attempt from Young with the Thunder up six in the final two minutes.
“I thought there were a couple of plays where the decisions were difficult for him, which is, I think, something that you have to do is keep him on his toes,” Daigneault said. “Don’t give him the same dose of the same defense over and over again, because obviously, he's a savvy player.”
In the second quarter, the 7-foot-1 Holmgren grabbed a rebound for Oklahoma City, then brought the ball up the court on the fast break. He found rookie Cason Wallace with a behind-the-back pass for a layup that put the Thunder ahead 36-30.
Dort was fouled by Young on a desperation 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left in the first half. Dort made all three free throws for a 58-50 halftime lead for Oklahoma City. He led the Thunder with 13 points before the break.
In the third, a block by Holmgren started a fast break. Giddey drove and found Gilgeous-Alexander in the corner for a 3-pointer that put the Thunder up 73-62 and led to a Hawks timeout.
Oklahoma City's Isaiah Joe made three 3-pointers in a 50-second span to give his team an 88-73 lead, and the Thunder took a 96-77 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Atlanta was down seven in the final two minutes when Dort blocked a 3-pointer by Young, leading to Gilgeous-Alexander's alley-oop lob to Williams for a dunk and a 118-109 lead.
“It’s not trying to focus on the positive. I guess it is to a degree,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “The fact that we continued to take our shots, we continued to offensive rebound ... we were down 19 and just scratched and clawed and made it a game late.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IJ I. Joe
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
JW Jay. Williams
LD L. Dort
OD O. Dieng
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
ATLBB B. Bogdanović
BO Bogdanovic
CC C. Capela
DH D. Hunter
DM D. Murray
GM G. Mathews
JJ J. Johnson
OO O. Okongwu
SB S. Bey
TY T. Young
OKC/ATL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur