3 Takeaways From OKC Thunder's Loss to Houston Rockets

For just the 13th time this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder sustained a loss Friday night.

The Houston Rockets took a 125-111 win, bringing them to an impressive 51-27 record. A 34-point performance from Jalen Green — as well as 31 points from Alperen Sengun — helped put them over the edge in a competive matchup between two of the best in the Western Conference.

At this point in the season, the losses don't matter too much for the Thunder, but it certainly showed the Rockets aren't a team to mess around with in the playoffs.

Here are three takeaways from the 14-point loss:

Losing the Free-Throw Battle

Contrary to what most usually think of with Oklahoma City and the free-throw line, it actually was an area it had a less-than-stellar night.

The Thunder shot just 12-of-15 at the charity stripe, a number that was easily expanded on by Houston with 22-of-26 shooting. Green and Sengun each had nine makes, making a significant part of both of their high scoring totals.

In his 22-point performance, believe it or not, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had zero luck with free throws. He shot just 1-of-2, an uncommonly low rate for one of the NBA's best finishers at the rim. The only real player to actually find success at the line was Jalen Williams, who knocked down 5-of-6 attempts.

Oklahoma City is in the bottom five in free-throw attempts per game, so it isn't all that much of a surprise it got beat there in an otherwise uncharacteristic performance on both sides. When Gilgeous-Alexander can't even get to the line, it's unlikely anyone else is going to be able to either.

Jalen Williams Does His Thing

With Gilgeous-Alexander's relative struggles compared to the performances he usually gives against his opponents, Williams was the All-Star in the driver's seat of the Thunder's scoring.

Williams finished the night with 33 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block on 13-of-21 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc. All this took place in 34 minutes of action, making for a highly effective performance.

The playoffs are nearing closer, so seeing Williams go out against a potential series opponent down the road is an encouraging sign. In his first playoff campaign last year, he underwent some struggles at times, but this time around, he's going to have the experience under his belt.

Defenses are going to focus a lot of attention on Gilgeous-Alexander, and although he will still be able to usually score, there will be situations where someone else might need to take over the offense. Williams has shown he can be that kind of player, especially now as a legitimate star.

Rebounding Becomes a Problem

Typically Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein give Oklahoma City an advantage on the glass, but that wasn't the case against the Rockets last night.

Off the bench, Jabari Smith Jr. exploded for a 17-rebound performance that dominated every player standing in his way. Alongside him, former Thunder center Steven Adams grabbed 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Add eight rebounds from Amen Thompson on top of that and you know who won the rebounding battle.

Houston as a collective unit grabbed a total of 48 rebounds, 14 of those being offensive. As for Oklahoma City, 33 total and seven offensive were incomparable. Pairing that with the Rockets shooting lights out from 3-point range was a recipe for a win.

Seven rebounds from Hartenstein and four from Holmgren simply isn't going to cut it against teams with size in the playoffs. This isn't an issue in most games, but it certainly can't become a trend in the future.