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Player grades: Thunder can't duct-tape things in 112-106 loss to Rockets

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Navigating through a choir of boos, Kevin Durant dribbled his way by Aaron Wiggins. Finding a pocket of space, he swished in the pull-up mid-range jumper at the elbow. The all-time scorer had a quiet day, but he hit the dagger as OKC's skeleton crew didn't have a counterpoint to him.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder ran out of offensive juice in their 112-106 loss to the Houston Rockets. While the personnel did their best, the absences of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and others eventually reared their ugly head in the final moments.

To start, the Thunder threw out a lineup they've seldom played this season. That's how dire things have gotten on the injury front. The lack of cohesion was blunt. They fell behind pretty quickly. Eventually, they found a flow, though. Jaylin Williams intercepted Durant's pass. He threw a full-court one himself to Kenrich Williams for the outside jumper.

The Thunder had things tied up at 28 points apiece after the first quarter. Honestly, not that bad of a spot to be in, all things considered. Jared McCain's novelty brought some added energy to the building. Isaiah Hartenstein denied Reed Sheppard at the rim. Isaiah Joe threw an alley-oop to Cason Wallace.

Up 46-32 with a little over six minutes to go in the second frame, everything was going well for the Thunder. What they lacked in raw scoring talent, they made up for with crisp ball movement. The Rockets figured some things out, though. They had a strong finish to the first half. The Thunder only had a 52-46 lead at the break. They only put up 24 points in the second quarter.

The Rockets' momentum bled over to the second half. Sheppard got past Lu Dort pretty easily for the driving layup to quickly tie things up at 54 points apiece. Brand-new ballgame. Houston's 22-8 run sandwiched between halftime made this into a competitive contest.

While Caruso desperately tried to be the sparkplug with a couple of monster defensive stops, it went to no avail. A lack of a go-to scorer plummeted OKC's offense once the ball movement froze up. They just didn't have the one-on-one scorers suited up. They only had 22 points in the third frame to be in an 80-74 deficit.

From that point, the Thunder played catch-up. The best they could do in the fourth quarter was tie things up at 91 points apiece. The Rockets responded with a 9-3 run to create some separation on the scoreboard. Funneled several shot attempts, Tari Eason made a difficult floater to make it a 100-94 game with four minutes to go.

Down 103-101 with two minutes left, the Thunder had the chance to steal a game it had no business winning. Getting a stop on Alperen Sengun, the hope in the eyes of most OKC fans quickly flickered out as Eason grabbed an offensive board for a second-chance layup.

Caruso then turned it over on the other end. Durant buried the mid-range jumper. Just like that, the Thunder were down 107-101 with a little over a minute left. The rest of the game turned into a free-throw contest by both sides. The Thunder had 32 points in the final frame, but that wasn't enough as the Rockets kept up.

The Thunder shot 45% from the field and went 14-of-36 (38.9%) from 3. They shot 18-of-28 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 37 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Holmgren had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Wallace finished with 23 points and four assists. Wiggins had 17 points and two rebounds. Joe scored 21 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Rockets shot 46% from the field and went 15-of-43 (34.9%) from 3. They shot 21-of-28 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 38 baskets. Five Rockets players scored double-digit points.

Durant finished with 20 points and four rebounds. Sengun tallied 17 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Eason scored 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Smith Jr. had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Sheppard had 16 points and six assists.

Well, this is how life is going to be without Gilgeous-Alexander. Even if Jalen Williams or Ajay Mitchell return in the upcoming three games before the NBA All-Star break, there's no one-for-one replacement for the reigning MVP. The Thunder did their best to duct-tape an offense together. While it worked at times, too often did things get out of control.

No real big-picture thoughts here. The next couple of weeks will be about surviving and getting as many wins as you can. The mentality shifted once Gilgeous-Alexander's absence was announced. While Holmgren and Hartenstein tried their best at a make-shift offense, OKC's remaining supporting cast couldn't do much.

Let's look at Thunder player grades:

Chet Holmgren: B

Grabbing Wiggins' missed free throw, the Thunder suddenly had one last gasp. Holmgren's pump-fake created an open look. Too bad he couldn't swish in the outside jumper to make it a two-point contest with 22 seconds to go. Such a fitting way to wrap up an annoying loss that was within reach.

Holmgren finished with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 14 rebounds. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 6-of-8 on free throws.

Going at Durant to open the second quarter, Holmgren dribbled to his spot. He muscled through the fellow slender seven-footer to go up for the banked layup. Yelling in celebration, you wish you saw that more often from the All-Star in a game where the Thunder badly needed a go-to scorer.

While this was a fine game for Holmgren's standards, his inability to scale up as a scorer has been put at the forefront during this hospital stretch of the season. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams are usually the guys who are bucket-getters. But that's never been in the 23-year-old's basketball DNA.

While the rebounding was superb and the defense was fine, the Thunder didn't have anyone who could cook up their own offense. Without a true ball-handler, they did their best with the ingredients provided. Holmgren played within the flow of the offense. But when that flow became erratic, he couldn't get things under control.

Cason Wallace: A

Anticipating Sheppard's move, Wallace intercepted his pass intended for Durant on the pick-and-pop. He ran down the court to throw down the transition jam. While the steal-and-score sequence went in vain, the 22-year-old took advantage of the vacuum of scoring possessions up for grabs.

Wallace finished with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, four rebounds and four assists. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had four steals.

Usually just a spot-up guy, Wallace had the chance to expand his repertoire. That was obvious from the jump when he took Smith Jr. baseline for the reverse layup. He was also savvy off the ball. Playing alongside Hartenstein, he made timely cuts to get open lanes to the rim for layups.

On a team that was desperate for some on-ball scoring juice, Wallace helped out in that regard. He showed what he can do off the dribble with a contested mid-range jumper. A couple of times, he beat his defenders to the cup for driving layups. He scored nine points in the final frame as OKC tried to pull the upset.

Considering the absences, someone had to step up as a scorer. It was purely a math solution at that point. It turned out to be Wallace, who's scored his second 20-point game in the last two weeks. Maybe his confidence getting back up on that side of the floor could be a benefit of an otherwise ugly stretch without the reigning MVP.

Isaiah Hartenstein: B-plus

Receiving the ball deep in the post, Hartenstein went with the over-the-head pass to Wiggins for the cutting layup. When you have lemons, make lemonade. That's how the Thunder approached this game under unfamiliar circumstances. They ran their halfcourt offense through his playmaking ability.

Hartenstein finished with four points on 2-of-4 shooting, 11 assists and eight rebounds. He shot 0-of-3 on free throws. He also had one block.

Fresh off his first career triple-double, Hartenstein flirted with another. Usually just a complementary part of their offense, they fully leaned on his playmaking as a hub to generate plenty of looks. The Thunder surrounded him with several off-ball cutters. At times, the plan worked. Heck, it's how they built up a 15-point lead at one point in the first half.

But that can only buy you so many buckets. As the game wore on, Gilgeous-Alexander's absence only grew. How Hartenstein operated in his DHOs is fine in spurts, but can't be your gameplan for an entire game. It didn't help that they completely fell apart when he was off the floor, as he remains on a minute restriction.

Regardless of how much you can rely on Hartenstein as an offensive hub, the Thunder welcomed him back after a one-game absence. He's dealt with injuries this season. But when he's on the floor — especially with a mostly healthy version of OKC — good things usually happen.

Jared McCain: C

Checking in for the first time, McCain received a loud ovation from the OKC crowd. In one of the weirder NBA trade deadlines that saw traditional sellers become buyers, the Thunder made one of the splashier moves among the West contenders with the buy-low move.

McCain finished with five points on 2-of-6 shooting, two rebounds and one assist. He shot 1-of-3 from 3.

Still figuring out the offense on the fly, McCain had to learn on the job. Such comes with the chaotic nature of the trade deadline. Mix that with some first-game nerves, and you have his early goof where the 21-year-old turned it over on a routine inbounds pass.

Eventually, McCain scored his first bucket with a pull-up jumper. He also swished in a second-chance look from deep. A plus-12 in 14 minutes suggests the Thunder probably should've played him a little more — especially considering how depleted OKC's backcourt is.

It'll be interesting to follow McCain's journey through the final one-third of the regular season and beyond. While he finally suited up today, it'll be interesting to see his fit alongside Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Mitchell. All three are OKC's primary ball-handlers, which suggests he could play a more off-ball role.

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This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder can't duct-tape things in 112-106 loss to Rockets

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