The Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the 2024 NBA Cup final with a 111-96 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was a tightly contested back-and-forth affair for much of the night, but the Thunder seized control of the contest in the fourth quarter and won comfortably at the end.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was once again the star of the show for OKC, finishing with 32 points (8-21 FG), eight rebounds, six assists, five steals, and a block after a slow start. Isaiah Hartenstein also put in an impressive showing, with 21 points (9-12 FG), eight rebounds, two assists, and a block while Jalen Williams had 20 points (8-20 FG), five rebounds, five assists, and a steal.
This was a statement win for the Thunder and NBA fans were quite impressed by them.
“Shai really proving that he’s the MVP,” one fan hailed Gilgeous-Alexander as the MVP.
“This OKC Thunder team might have the best defense I’ve seen in a very long time,” one fan believes the Thunder defense is the best he has seen in ages.
“The Rockets have a great defense but the Thunder have an SGA,” a fan praised Gilgeous-Alexander for dominating against that defense.
“I’ve been on the trade Sengun train for a while now, more people are starting to find out the truth about him. Need to capitalize on his value before it’s too late,” one Rockets fan wants Alperen Sengun to be traded.
“Absolutely horrified at the thought of what this Thunder defense is going to do to the Bucks,” a Milwaukee Bucks fan is worried about facing this Thunder team in the final.
The most impressive part about this Thunder performance was undoubtedly the defense. The Rockets went just 35-96 (36.5%) from the field and 11-46 (23.9%) from beyond the arc. The defensive pressure proved to be too much to handle, with all five starters failing to shoot even over 40% from the field.
Star big man Alperen Sengun struggled massively against that Thunder defense, finishing with just 13 points (6-16 FG), 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Fred VanVleet, meanwhile, had just eight points (3-15 FG), nine rebounds, seven assists, and a steal.
Sophomore Amen Thompson was arguably the most impressive Rocket on the night, with 19 points (9-15 FG), seven rebounds, one assist, and three steals and they’re not going to win too many games when he’s the best performer. It was undoubtedly a disappointing showing from the team, but it’s commendable they even made it this far.
This Rockets team has impressed one and all this season and their time will come. They dropped to 17-9 on the season with the loss here and will take on the New Orleans Pelicans next at Toyota Center on Thursday at 8 PM ET.
As for the Thunder, they improved to 20-5 on the season and strengthened their grip on the top spot in the Western Conference. They’ll now stay in Las Vegas and prepare for the NBA Cup final against the Milwaukee Bucks, which will tip off at 8:30 PM ET on Tuesday. It should be an incredible contest and I back the Thunder to come away with the win in that one.
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