Diallo, Noel a brief spark for OKC in loss
When Thunder coach Billy
Donovan finally went away from the combination of Terrance Ferguson on the perimeter and Patrick Patterson at power forward, the game started to shift.
It was then in the third quarter when the Thunder outscored the Kings for the first time on Sunday. They have Hamidou Diallo and Nerlens Noel to thank for the few bursts of hope it had in a 131-120 loss.
“I felt like we needed a spark and some energy, and I thought Diallo and (Deonte) Burton could provide that for us,” Donovan said. “They’re tough, they have great motors, they have really good energy.”
Ferguson has started all three Thunder losses, but Diallo has been the more impactful player at shooting guard. Ferguson’s minutes outweighed Diallo’s 12 to nine in the first half, but Diallo played 13 minutes to Ferguson’s seven in the second half.
In the third, Diallo immediately followed a missed 3-pointer and grabbed the offensive rebound in stride. No Kings defender was in his way.
What that meant for the hyper-athletic rookie was an open dunk that sparked the Thunder. Diallo was full of energy in the second half en route to 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
“He did great. Hami’s good,” Russell Westbrook
said. “He’s got a lot to learn, but he brings a lot of great things to the game and he’s going to continue to learn.”
Noel was the length and athleticism the Thunder needed against a bouncy Sacramento frontcourt. The Thunder outscored Sacramento 34-26 in the third quarter with Noel as the rock on the back end of the defense to close the quarter.
But Noel picked up a critical sixth foul with 7:15 left in the fourth. Without Noel — who finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks, but altered numerous shots at the rim — the Kings stretched a seven-point lead back to 10 in less than two minutes.
Noel fouled out in just 13 minutes. Noel said the league is trying to do the best it can in the early season with its new mandate on calling more contact.
“That was a little crazy,” Noel said. “I’ve got a different mindset, wanting to go in there and affect the game as much as possible, so it might mean I was a little too aggressive tonight.
“But at the end of the day, I’ve got to have that assertive mentality to go in there and change the game.”
The combination of Patterson and Ferguson went 1-of-9 from 3 and 2-of13 overall.
Abrines out
One of the Thunder’s few bright spots in a slow start to the season has been Alex Abrines. Throughout his NBA career, however, Abrines has suffered unfortunate injuries that have derailed his on-court rhythm.
Abrines suffered a setback Sunday as he left the game with what the Thunder called a mouth contusion in the second quarter. At halftime, Abrines was cleared to play, but was downgraded to questionable for the second half and didn’t return.
Abrines had delivered two sharp passes to Diallo in the first half for assists, but his night ended with 10:19 left in the second quarter after Noel inadvertently hit him in the back of the head with an elbow on defense. Abrines stayed down on his back along the baseline in front of the Kings’ bench as Thunder trainers checked on him. He was then escorted to the locker room.
Thunder honors Murdoch
To the right side of the goal closest to the Thunder’s bench, the initials “LAM” are now on the floor in a photographer’s spot.
It stands for Layne Allen Murdoch, the longtime Thunder and NBA photographer who died Aug. 10 from cancer. The Thunder honored Murdoch on Sunday by leaving his photographer’s spot open all game. His “LAM” initials will remain in the box all season.
Fifteen members of Murdoch’s family were invited by the Thunder to Sunday’s home opener.