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The Oklahoma City Thunder had an eventful weekend as they conquered a three-game road trip filled with East playoff squads. Like all season, they juggled through injuries during the extensive road trip that served as a company retreat for the Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein duo.
Jalen Williams missed the entire road trip to stay back in OKC. He rehabbed a hip strain. The meat of that trip was a high-intense 113-107 win over the Detroit Pistons. Down Williams, the Thunder were also without Holmgren and Aaron Wiggins. They lost Lu Dort and Ousmane Dieng during the game to injuries.
Throw in a hostile road environment as Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff egged the Detroit crowd to boo the referees, the Thunder just shrugged their shoulders at the adversity gods and closed out an impressive road victory. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on his Superman cape with 48 points but Cason Wallace was the perfect sidekick.
Wallace contributed with a season-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, five rebounds and three steals. He shot 2-of-4 from 3. He limited Cade Cunningham to a forgettable 11 points before he was ejected.
The additional ball-handling reps let Wallace drive to the basket. He had plenty of pretty finishes around the rim. At times, he was the sole drop of water in their desertous second-unit lineups. He had nine quick points in the first quarter.
Wallace only had three points in the fourth quarter, but his timely triple was the dagger that put the Thunder up by seven points with 93 seconds left. They needed the 21-year-old to step up as their second go-to scorer with the number of players out and he did.
"I came out with the mindset to go score early. I had one of their main guys on me. Just making his life a little harder on defense. Make him use more energy," Wallace said. "Defensively, just trying to turn us up early. Didn't want to have a slow start. Wanted to take the fight to them first."
Wallace stepping up is the latest example of the Thunder's embarrassment of riches. On any other team, he'd be viewed as their blue-chip prospect. On the Thunder, he's just their sixth unofficial starter. Despite his limited role, Gilgeous-Alexander believes he can have an unconventional rise to stardom like he experienced in his career.
"He has tools to be an All-Star. He has tools to be a Jrue Holiday," Gilgeous-Alexander said about Wallace. "That type of All-Star. End you defensively and when he has the ball, he can play with it. He can make a play, he can make a shot. Steps up in big moments. He has that ability and to see his confidence grow as he's with us and see his development, it's been really fun, it's been great."
While Wallace is a complimentary piece right now, he has infinite room to grow. The 21-year-old has already evolved from a 3-and-D role player last season to more of an on-ball creator this season. Give him another offseason and the Thunder could have another key piece on their hands. He already has one believer in Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a similar first two seasons of his career before he skyrocketed to superstardom.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander believes Cason Wallace can be future All-Star
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