Australia’s Josh Giddey delivered arguably the finest game of his fledgling NBA career, with the 20-year-old Oklahoma City guard putting up a monster stat line despite a 116-111 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Giddey had 27 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block.
He shot 12-24 from the floor (50%) and 2-6 from deep, and finished with a game-high +14 plus-minus.
In both points and rebounds, he was just one short of his career-high tallies.
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However, the Thunder were blown out of the water by the Lakers in the opening quarter, finishing the first term down 41-25.
They hit back with a 41-point quarter and outscored the Lakers again in the third term, but were out-rebounded all game and couldn’t find crucial stops at the death.
Anthony Davis exploded for the Lakers with 37 points and 15 rebounds. Dennis Schroder added 21 points and six assists for the Lakers, while Lonnie Walker IV had 20 points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 27 points, five rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder.
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