5 takeaways: Theo Maledon gets 1st double-double in Thunder win over Hawks

The Oklahoma City Thunder put away the Atlanta Hawks with a 118-109 victory on Friday night.

The Thunder exploded in the first three quarters, scoring more than 30 in each, and then coasted to a win behind double-doubles from Theo Maledon and Darius Bazley, 24 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a combined 25 points off the bench from Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala.

The Thunder finished with 31 assists as a team and consistently moved the ball well to create good looks even with some uniform issues. They shot 52.3% from the field and 38.1% from 3.

“I think this was our best game as far as getting everybody else involved and playing real team basketball,” Williams said.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

Theo Maledon's double-double

Thunder rookie Theo Maledon recorded the first double-double of his NBA career as he posted 13 points and 12 assists. The assists ties Russell Westbrook for an Oklahoma City rookie record. Maledon's previous high was six assists, recorded on Feb. 6. "The thing that he did tonight -- I've talked a couple times about him playing more aggressively hitting the gas, and he’s had little flickers of that throughout the course of the season, but I thought tonight he played in that mode and I thought it created a lot of advantages for him," head coach Mark Daigneault said. Maledon has put up quite a few impressive statistical performances this season. He recorded six steals against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 3, and he put up 24 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 29, a game in which he went 6-for-6 from behind the 3-point line. On Friday, Maledon finished with 13 points, 12 assists, four rebounds and a steal and shot 4-for-11 from the field while making a pair of 3-pointers.

Impressive win without Horford…

The Thunder have struggled without center Al Horford this season, but they were able to pull out the win on Friday without a whole lot of difficulty. Bazley's double-double was his seventh of the season, and he made all seven shots he attempted from inside the 3-point line. He capped the game off with a ferocious dunk around John Collins. Oklahoma City was also able to move the ball without Horford, who has consistently been a playmaking catalyst for the team. The Thunder had 31 assists, just one shy of their season-high, and scored 60 points in the paint. "That was the epitome of guys playing with pace, creating advantages for each other and then spraying the ball around and finding the open man," Daigneault said. "The product was incredibly unselfish." They managed to get the win even without one of their most important players.

… but Horford’s absence was still noticeable

With that said, Horford's absence was still clear. The Thunder were outrebounded 54 to 39, and the Hawks grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. Center Clint Capela was the key for the Hawks. He had nine of those offensive rebounds and finished the game with 21 total boards, a continuation of the Thunder's struggles defending the glass from opposing centers. He also had four blocks. In addition, Oklahoma City struggled to stop power forward John Collins, who finished with 25 points and eight boards. Isaiah Roby has performed well in the starting lineup, but he doesn't quite have the body to size up huge centers like Capela. He finished with four rebounds, and off the bench, backup center Mike Muscala had three.

Isaiah Roby’s no-look pass

https://twitter.com/The_ThunderWire/status/1365511642981814275 On the note of Isaiah Roby, he had one of the best plays of the game. Check out his no-look assist above. This was key in squashing the Hawks' comeback attempt. After the Thunder led by 16 at the end of the third quarter, Atlanta pulled the deficit back down to six. Trae Young had just drained a 3. Momentum was on the Hawks' side. But then Roby no-looked his way to Dort, who drained one of his four 3-pointers on the night. Dort finished with 19 points, second-most on the Thunder. It seems like Roby is consistently showcasing a new variation of his skill set. He can be a playmaker. He can shoot the ball from deep. He can defend on the perimeter and inside. He just needs to continue honing these skills and adding strength to his frame to become a very good player. With flashes like these, it's no wonder the Thunder were intrigued enough to trade for him last season.

Ty Jerome's debut

Ty Jerome's first quarter wasn't just a good start for him on the Thunder -- it was one of the best quarters of his young career. Last season, due to a combination of his injuries and youth along with a glut of average backup point guards on the Phoenix Suns, Jerome didn't get very many minutes during games. He was traded to the Thunder in the Chris Paul deal but got injured during the first day of training camp, which caused him to miss the start of the season. He played nine games in the G League before the Hamidou Diallo injury caused the team to call him up. By the end of the first quarter on Friday, he had four assists, a number he only broke once with the Suns. He finished the game with nine points and five rebounds to go with seven assists, which tied his career-best. "Ty’s a basketball player. By that, I mean you stick him anywhere, with any lineup, he’s going to mesh well. He can shoot, pass, put it on the floor, do so many things," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "You guys saw that tonight. He really elevated our play, I think, tonight with the ball. He had great pace, made shots, and overall did a great job." [vertical-gallery id=442464]

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