Three takeaways from Oklahoma City’s thrilling win over Golden State

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

Oklahoma City jumped out of the gate with a 39-23 lead after the first quarter, but Golden State quickly fought back to bring it to double figures. Ultimately, the Thunder were the absolute winners with a final score of 105-101.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 35 points, nine rebounds, five assists, one steal and a block on 13 of 28 shooting from the field. The guard struggled, making 3 of 12 shots from 3-point range, but he was able to pick up the tempo in other areas offensively to gain an edge over the Warriors.

Without Stephen Curry, Golden State’s offense slumped – shooting nearly 36% from the field and 32% from behind the arc.

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

Even though Oklahoma City left Chase Center with a win, issues at the free throw line meant it was much closer than it needed to be.

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

One of those misses came with seven seconds left in the game when Gilgeous-Alexander missed his first of two attempts following a foul by Buddy Hield. However, his next three attempts to secure victory for Oklahoma City failed.

However, when it comes to free throws, a hit rate approaching 60% is far from ideal, regardless of whether the result goes in the Thunder’s favor. It will be an area it will want to clean up before facing the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

Between the free throws and shooting 11 of 37 — or 29.7% — from the 3-point arc, it was an ugly win for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder struggled to get going on offense against a depleted Curry-less Warriors squad that, on paper, they should have faced more easily. Golden State was led by Jonathan Kuminga with 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 performance for Oklahoma City, especially with Isaiah Hartenstein and Luguentz Dort. Overall, he finished the night with ten steals and nine blocks, adding to his high stock total throughout the season.

The Thunder left a lot to be desired offensively, but every win is necessary in a difficult Western Conference. After Wednesday night, they remain No. 1 with a one-game lead over the Houston Rockets.

It seems Oklahoma City can’t escape the injury bug this season, and that usually happens against the Warriors.

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

Kuminga made a slam dunk at the end of the first half and Williams decided to challenge. However, Kuminga’s hand hit his face directly during the play, causing an injury to his right eye that ruled him out for the rest of the game.

It’s unclear how serious the injury is and how long it will keep him out of action, but it’s another blow the Thunder have had to deal with in that regard. It was still with a win in hand, but if Williams had played the entire game the result could have been much easier.

Would you like to join the discussion? How Thunder on SI on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest Thunder news. You can do that too Get to know the team behind the reporting.