With Derrick Favors, Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala all ruled out of Monday night's game against the Houston Rockets with various ailments, the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to give more run to more bench players during the contest.Paul Watson Jr. was one beneficiary of the team's limited roster, making his season debut on Monday night. Watson is on a two-way contract with Oklahoma City, meaning he will split the season between the Thunder and their minor-league club, the Blue. But Watson's debut proved anticlimactic, as the 26-year-old scored zero points in 20 minutes of game action.The real stars Monday were Tre Mann and Isaiah Roby, two young players who have spent time with the Blue this season, as well. Though Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 22 points, Mann and Roby came off the bench for 17 apiece. Mann added seven rebounds, and Roby had five."Just trying to affect the game any way I can," Mann said after the contest. "The coaches told me that's how I'm going to earn playing time — getting loose balls, getting rebounds, and doing some dirty work. ... So that's been my mindset since they told me that.""My teammates put me in a lot of good positions," Roby said of his night. "Shai found me a couple times, (Josh) Giddey found me a couple times. They made my job really easy."They were the only other players to score more than seven points, as the Thunder struggled from behind the arc and dropped their sixth straight game, 102-89. Oklahoma City's 3-point shooting, a weak link all season long, was especially futile on Monday. It went 7 for 43 from deep, or just 16.3%, while Houston hit 32.6% on 46 attempts.After the game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said the team can't get discouraged by its poor shooting."An open 3, I think you have to be OK with," Daigneault said. "Obviously, tonight was a tough shooting night, but we can't let it drain our energy. We can't let it dip into the things we can control."The Thunder are now 6-14 on the season and have completed nearly one-quarter of their scheduleẆhat's behind the team's recent rough patch? After all, Oklahoma City started November hot before dropping eight of its last nine ballgames.One factor was the two-game absence of Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC's best player, due to a right ankle sprain. The Thunder actually competed well without SGA,
