The ongoing theme of this Oklahoma City Thunder squad this season is that despite having one of the worst records in the league due to youthfulness and inexperience, opposing teams cannot head into their games against them with the mindset that it will be an easy win. This can’t be exemplified better than Thursday’s game against the team with the best record in the league and reigning Western Conference champions Phoenix Suns, where they lost the game 113-101.

Considering the context — the second night of a back-to-back on the road against a team that was 14-2 at home — the Thunder being blown out by a lot would not have been that surprising of a result. If anything, it is what most would expect. And that result would not be a detriment on the Thunder. It would speak more on the fact that the talent gap between arguably the best team in the NBA and one of the worst teams in the NBA is wide.

But instead, the young Thunder were able to keep this game interesting for all four quarters. This did not look like the case after the first quarter, where the Suns led by 12 points. But the league leaders in 15+ point comebacks this season were able to make this contest interesting with a 31-16 second quarter advantage. I would prefer labelling this type of game as a productive loss more than a moral win. The Thunder were able to keep up with one of the best teams in the NBA in their arena as they finish a stretch of four games in six nights. This loss is productive in the way that the team was able to realize that they took it round-to-round with one of the bests while also improving the team’s lottery odds and keeping up with the pace of the reverse lottery standings.

Thunder fans would love to have more games follow this script where the young talent shows out and keeps things close but ultimately fall short. With all that said, let’s take a look at player grades:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A

Playing against his former teammate in Chris Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring game was on point this game as he finished with 28 points on an efficient 10-of-20 shooting to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. This included shooting 2-of-6 from three after missing his previous 13 threes in the last three games. Just a very good offensive outing for Gilgeous-Alexander that included a lot of drives to the rim and threes. Gilgeous-Alexander’s aggressiveness was rewarded with seven trips to the free throw line as he shot a percent 100%. Gilgeous-Alexander had a good game on all three levels as he played nearly 40 minutes.

Josh Giddey: B-

Giddey had a nice scoring game with 17 points but it required 17 shots to get there. In terms of other areas of his game, the rookie only finished with six rebounds and two assists. This was a good performance from Giddey and the scoring number is very encouraging to see. Especially considering the fact most of his shots were taken in the paint.

One of the more impressive plays of the game for Giddey occurred on an inbound pass, which has became a specialty of his. Being able to create easy looks for his teammates on simple cuts and reads is an invaluable skill that raises the entire team’s floor and the Thunder quickly realized that during the draft process last year. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault mentioned before the game that Giddey’s basketball IQ, passing and size were traits that stood out the most from the 19-year-old and all three have translated on an extremely successful level so far in the NBA.

Darius Bazley: B

This was another good game for Bazley as he came off the bench. In 18 minutes, the 21-year-old finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. Bazley has really taken advantage of this opportunity and has made the most of it. As Daigneault mentioned earlier this week, he will most likely start once again before the season ends and this type of play can accelerate that process.

Lu Dort: C+

Dort struggled to shoot this game as he scored just 10 points while going 4-of-16 from the field. The 22-year-old was able to extend his streak of at least one made three a game to 44 games as he went 2-of-9 from deep. Just have to chalk this up as a poor shooting game as the entire team shot just 38.

The veterans: A

Both Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala were a +10 on the plus-minus stats in a 12-point loss. Williams finished with seven points and four rebounds. Muscala finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Both players have been a great presence to have in the locker room as the younger guys glowingly show support for them and what they have meant for their careers. They also have both played extremely well in their roles to the point where contenders showing trade interest should be expected.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: B

Another good performance for the second round rookie as he finished with 11 points and five rebounds and shot 3-of-6 from three. The Thunder really want Robinson-Earl to develop into a small ball stretch big who can switch between the four and the five and if he continues to shoot the ball this well from outside, it’s easy to see that goal materialize.