Jan. 5—After riding the high of arguably the best offensive performance in franchise history in its 150-117 win over the Boston Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder crashed back down to Earth in a 126-115 loss to the Orlando Magic. {/span} By simply watching, it was pretty easy to guess which of these two teams was on the second night of a home-and-road back-to-back and which of the two enjoyed four consecutive off days.

Facing an injury-plagued frontcourt, the Magic was able to use its size advantage to control the boards and dominate inside. The Magic outrebounded the Thunder, 49-32. The Magic also outscored the Thunder inside the paint, 48-30.

A 35-25 third-quarter advantage made things interesting for the Thunder as it cut the Magic’s lead to seven points, but a 31-27 fourth-quarter disadvantage sealed the loss.

Considering the last time these two teams met, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said Chet Holmgren was the true firstoverall pick, it felt like Paolo Banchero wanted to prove a point and remind the Thunder why he actually went No. 1 this past draft.

“I remember hearing that quote,” Banchero said. “I mean, that’s his teammate. He is supposed to say that. I definitely felt like this game was a little bit of payback just because we felt like we had them at their place.”

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Banchero made easy work of the small Thunder with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting, seven assists and eight rebounds.

Looking at the schedule, this felt like a scheduled loss for the Thunder considering the hectic travel and winning its most impressive game of the season less than 24 hours before.

The Thunder return home for a quick two-game homestand with the first game being against the Washington Wizards on Friday, Jan. 6.

Here are three other thoughts from the Thunder’s 11-point loss.

SGA returns from being sick

Gilgeous-Alexander made his return following a onegame absence dealing with a non-COVID illness.

Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch against Tuesday’s game against the Celtics as he didn’t feel well enough to play. Considering the quick turnaround, it would’ve made logistical sense for Gilgeous-Alexander to sit this game out as well and have a week off between games.

Instead, Gilgeous-Alexander toughed it out and scored 33 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander continues to strengthen his lead for most made free throws in the league as he went 17-of-18 from the free-throw line, which tied his career high in makes and attempts.

SGA plus shooters lineup

Midway through the third quarter, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault ran an interesting lineup that featured Gilgeous-Alexander and four shooters.

The lineup consisted of Gilgeous-Alexander, Tre Mann, Lindy Waters III, Isaiah Joe and Mike Muscala.

With the Thunder missing virtually its entire forward rotation and down by 17 points, Daigneault decided to opt for the ultimate smallball lineup and surprisingly enough, it worked against the abnormally-large Magic.

From the 4:48 mark of the third quarter to the 9:42 mark of the fourth quarter, the Thunder outscored the Magic 22-15 with this lineup.

The lineup was so successful, that Daigneault deviated from his traditional rotation of giving Gilgeous-Alexander the first half of the fourth quarter off.

The lineup was likely formulated out of necessity due to the number of injuries, but it was still a fun eightminute stretch that surprisingly worked out.

Who knew surrounding a drive-heavy player like Gilgeous- Alexander with shooters would succeed?

Jaylin Williams hurt

The Thunder injury report might’ve added another victim.

With the Thunder already missing Chet Holmgren, Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Ousmane Dieng, Jaylin Williams exited the game in the third quarter after twisting his ankle.

The Thunder ruled Williams out with a left ankle sprain. Including tonight, Williams has started in three of the last four games.