{"id":9866,"date":"2022-10-21T21:34:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-22T02:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=9866"},"modified":"2022-11-14T18:14:22","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T00:14:22","slug":"pokus-empty-4th-quarter-possessions-doom-thunder-in-season-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=9866","title":{"rendered":"Poku&#8217;s empty 4th quarter possessions doom Thunder in season opener&#8230;&#8230;."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">MINNESOTA TAKES 115-108 HOME OPENER WIN<\/span> <\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">EMPTY POSSESSIONS IN 4TH QUARTER DOOM OKC<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The NBA season opener for the Oklahoma City Thunder was somewhat typical for the youngest team in the league.\u00a0 The first half saw the Minnesota Timbervolves control the Thunder as they built a 65-52 after the first 24 minutes at the Target Center in Minneapolis.\u00a0 One would expect so much as a veteran T-Wolves squad with an added big man, Rudy Gobert, along with Karl Anthony-Towns and company took the young group from Reno Street to the cleaners.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4 class=\"InfoCard_column__et46d\"><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The half-time adjustments by the OKC coaching staff was effective as the Thunder controlled the third quarter, picking up the pace and causing the T-Wolves into turnovers as the 13 point lead went to an 8 point deficit before a six point ending of the quarter.\u00a0 At the end of that 12 minutes the score was even at 79.\u00a0 As most NBA games go in the final quarter, Minnesota gained back control and finished off the Thunder 115-108.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Observations for OKC:<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0On four consecutive positions in the later part of the 4th quarter, from 3:18 to 1:59,\u00a0 Aleksej\u00a0 Pokusevski, missed a shot, allowing the T-Wolves to increase their 103-105 lead to at 103-109.\u00a0 That six point run and empty possessions by Poku was basically the game.\u00a0 In the final three minutes Poku cannot be the primary shooter for the Thunder. Coach Daigneault cannot allow that to happen with much better scorers on the floor.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Eugene Omoruyi showed his defensive skills outplaying Karl Anthony-Towns while on the court for his 14 minutes against the All-Star.\u00a0 Anthony-Towns scored only 12 in the contest and had the muscle to match up with the taller opponent.\u00a0 Yet, the very raw 25 year old showed his limitations on offense in the final quarter as he was not productive on that end of the floor.\u00a0 But a good start for this possible rotation player. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Jalen Williams was effective before he was clocked in the eye on a drive by a T-Wolve.\u00a0 He will be one of the major players for OKC this year.\u00a0 He will be out for some time as he underwent surgery for his injury today.\u00a0 The officials said he made illegal contact with his face with the elbow of Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels.\u00a0 Figure that out folks.\u00a0 OKC got hosed on that one in my opinion.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave OKC a solid big time game but\u00a0 Josh Giddy, Lu Dort and the rest of the team were just ordinary.\u00a0 Another player or two have to play better for OKC to win games like this.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Thunder meet Minnesota this Sunday night in OKC in Game 3 of the season.\u00a0 OKC plays at Denver on Saturday night.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Good shooting Thunder fans.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9869\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9869\" style=\"width: 959px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?attachment_id=9869\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9869\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9869 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1212fee615e67cafca261deef9ac11db.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"959\" height=\"639\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1212fee615e67cafca261deef9ac11db.webp 959w, https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1212fee615e67cafca261deef9ac11db-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1212fee615e67cafca261deef9ac11db-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 959px) 100vw, 959px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9869\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">OKC rookie lays on the court after using his head\/eye to foul a T-Wolve on the elbow in a game Thursday night in Minnesota&#8230;.Photos: Star-Tribune.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Jalen Williams OUT as he used his face to foul a T-Wolve elbow.\u00a0 Sure.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here&#39;s the play <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rAzrU5FDdw\">pic.twitter.com\/rAzrU5FDdw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joe_mussatto\/status\/1583500738868568079?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_9866\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"9866\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; MINNESOTA TAKES 115-108 HOME OPENER WIN EMPTY POSSESSIONS IN 4TH QUARTER DOOM OKC The&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_9866\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"9866\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,7,9],"tags":[1644,1805,1804,1806,1768,1653,1643,53,1803,1447],"class_list":["post-9866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-home","category-latest","category-nba","tag-aleksej-pokusevski","tag-eugene-omoruyi","tag-jalen-williams","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-lu-dort","tag-mark-daigneault","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":98,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9866"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9874,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9866\/revisions\/9874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}