Pokusevski turns a corner in OKC’s preseason finale
TULSA — Aleksej Pokusevski was off, way off, in the Thunder’s first three preseason games.
Aside from his poor shooting, 6of-25 overall and 2-of-14 from 3-point range, Pokusevski looked generally out of sorts.
The second-year forward turned things around Thursday night in Tulsa.
Pokusevski dazzled the BOK Center crowd, scoring 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting in the Thunder’s 113-107 overtime loss to the Nuggets.
Fans erupted on a pretty fourthquarter give-and-go between Pokusevski and rookie center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Pokusevski whipped a behind-theback pass to Robinson-Earl. Pokusevski then cut to the hoop and collected a slick bounce pass from Robinson-Earl. Pokusevski finished the connection with a layup.
The Nuggets called timeout, and Pokusevski nodded and yelled as he jogged back to the Thunder bench.
“That was playing in front of a crowd,” Pokusevski said. “It gave me energy.”
Pokusevski was 4-of-9 from 3-point range. He had eight rebounds and three assists.
“We’re challenging him,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We’re expecting him to make a step in a lot of areas, as we do all of our players.”
Pokusevski wasn’t perfect. His “wow” passes still go both ways. In overtime, Pokusevski threw an errant pass that sailed halfway up the lower bowl. Fans in the 19th row don’t usually expect souvenirs.
Daigneault said Pokusevski “ran out of gas” in overtime, but Pokusevski drained a big-time 3-pointer with 49 seconds left. It cut Denver’s lead to one.
“He’s still a really, really young player, but he’s got a lot of experience, so we’re holding him to a pretty high standard,” Daigneault said. “I thought tonight he got rewarded for how he played.”
Here are four more takeaways from the Thunder’s preseason finale:
Resting up
Daigneault and Nuggets coach Michael Malone rested most of their key players in the final preseason game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley and Derrick Favors all sat for the Thunder. OKC was also without Kenrich Williams (right big toe sprain), Mamadi Diakite (left hip fracture) and Vit Krejci (visa status).
Tre Mann (right heel soreness) and Isaiah Roby (right knee soreness) were ruled out for the rest of the game at halftime.
Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green were among those out for the Nuggets.
OKC opens the regular season Wednesday night at Utah. The Nuggets will open Wednesday at the Suns.
Mike Muscala starts
The Thunder started three rookies, one sophomore and … Mike Muscala, set to enter his ninth NBA season.
For those keeping count, that’s four starting centers in four preseason games for the Thunder.
Muscala scored 14 points in 24 minutes.
Josh Giddey, Theo Maledon, Tre Mann and Aaron Wiggins rounded out the Thunder starting five. Wiggins was impressive on the defensive end.
Denver started Austin Rivers, Facundo Campazzo, Will Barton, Zeke Nnaji and Bol Bol.
Twice there were chants of “Austin Rivers.” Perhaps a dedicated fan who remembered Rivers’ three day stint with the Thunder.
Triple-double watch
It’s not going to take Giddey long to record his first NBA triple-double.
He almost had a preseason one Thursday night with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes.
The hype is bubbling, and Giddey looks ready for the regular season.
Tulsa Thunder
The Tulsa crowd was awesome. Fans dotting the lower level of BOK Center made it feel like a regular-season game. Preseason results don’t matter, but it sure didn’t seem that way inside.
“They were into it the whole game,” Daigneault said. “It was great being up in this market.”
Few seemed to care that the stars were on the sideline, especially with the show put on by a pair of 19-year-olds in Pokusevski and Giddey.
Oh, and Denver guard Markus Howard had a March Madness-type performance.
The former Marquette standout hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left in regulation.
Howard stayed hot in overtime, finishing with a game-high 31 points. He was 9-of-17 from 3-point range.