Australian teenager NBA 2021/2022″>Josh Giddey continues to break NBA records in his first season in the best basketball league in the world.
The 19-year-old recorded his 11th double-double of the season today, breaking Russell Westbrook’s record for most double-doubles by an Oklahoma City Thunder rookie.
Recording 14 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for the Thunder, Giddey also became the youngest player since Lebron James to reach 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in his first 45 NBA games.
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In their first game since leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was injured, the Oklahoma City Thunder battled their way to victory.
Lu Dort scored 18 points and the Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 98-81 on Monday night to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 22.7 points per game, will be out until after the All-Star break because of a sprained right ankle suffered last Friday against Indiana. Without him, the Thunder trailed Portland by 18 in the second quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander has often been the catalyst when Oklahoma City has launched comebacks from big deficits. But this time, his teammates completed and stepped up.
“I said when it came out that we want to be a team that solves problems with five guys,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
“It’s like the internal messaging that we use with the guys quite regularly. And not having a player like Shai is a problem. You know, we’d love to have Shai. And I thought tonight… we solved the problem with five guys.”
Darius Bazley had 15 points and Giddey added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder.
CJ McCollum had 21 points and Norman Powell added 18 for Portland, which has lost four of five.
“For the most part, this is one of those games where you can’t take a shot,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said.
“Eighty-one points: Anyone in the league scores 81 points, there’s no way you’re going to have a chance to win the game. But I thought we played the right way. I just couldn’t get them.”
Portland took over early, leading 31-19 after one quarter and 40-22 early in the second before the Thunder rallied to lose 47-39 at halftime.
“At first I thought, especially, that we were moving it, we were making the right play. But we just weren’t doing it at the pace that we’re capable of and that we needed to,” Daigneault said.
“And then as the game went on, we got our feet wet.”
Oklahoma City started strong in the second half and Dort’s 3-pointer cut Portland’s lead to 51-49. A basket by Derrick Favors tied the score at 51 and the Blazers called a timeout.
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Ty Jerome’s 3-pointer late in the fourth put the Thunder up 61-59, and a steal and float in the lane by Dort as time expired in the third gave Oklahoma City a 65-61 lead.
A back pass from Jerome to Kenrich Williams led to a dunk that put the Thunder up 73-65. It was part of a 15-0 run that gave the Thunder an 80-65 lead and control forever.
“It wasn’t just one person carrying a load, it was just a style and a team orientation that allowed us to take advantage,” said Daigneault.
“And I thought the guys did a really good job of that.”
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