Thunder 146, Jazz 111: The Day After Report
Nuggets & Notes
- I bet everyone expected the Utah Jazz would put up more of a fight against the Oklahoma City Thunder than the Los Angeles Lakers, right?
- Jokes aside, the Thunder did exactly what one would expect them to do against a tanking, depleted Jazz team that definitely does not want to win any more games this year. In OKC's 146-111 drubbing of Utah, OKC put up 40 in the first quarter, 75 by halftime, 108 through three, and coasted with a cool 38 points in the final frame to secure the team's highest scoring game of the year. The 146 points scored (in regulation!), eclipsed the 144 the Thunder scored against the Jazz back on November 21.
- The Utah Jazz is not a very good defensive team.
- Honestly, if you wondered what it would look like for the Thunder to play a very good G-League team, now we kinda know. Everything was easy for the Thunder.
- The Thunder shot 54-for-92 overall and 24-for-45 from three, which is 59% from the field and 53% from deep.
- OKC had a season high 40 assists on 54 made baskets.
- The only negative was the turnovers. Oklahoma City turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 17 Utah points. (Meanwhile, Utah turned the ball over 16 times leading to 33 OKC points.)
- Chet Holmgren led the way with 21 points in just 22 minutes, hitting 8-of-11 shots and 4-of-5 from three. He also had seven rebounds and four blocks. His fourth block is exhibit A of why Chet is such an imposing defender. With Kyle Filipowski pushing pace, Holmgren leaps, forcing Filipowski to dish to Cody Williams. Chet is still able to reposition himself to block Williams's shot.
- And yes, Chet absolutely tried to hijack the top play on SportsCenter with his attempt at a soul-crushing running dunk. So close.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his 20 points, because of course he did. He finished with 20 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and shot 7-for-10 in only 24 minutes before getting the entire fourth quarter off.
- That 20-point night also pushed Shai’s NBA-record streak to 138 straight games with at least 20.
- Jalen Williams continues to impress as an efficient playmaker: 15 points, seven assists, one turnover, and a team-best plus-31 in 26 minutes.
- Cason Wallace brought the bench flamethrower act: 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 4-for-5 from three. Oh, and he led the team with 2 steals.
- Branden Carlson was the team's most efficient scorer per minute. Carlson dropped 11 points in eight minutes, going 5-for-6 from the field and even hitting a three.
- The win pushed OKC to 62-16, extended the win streak to five straight, and gave them 17 wins in their last 18 games.
One Key Takeaway
With the win, the Oklahoma City Thunder's magic number to nab the top seed dropped to 2 with 4 games to play. The next two games for the Thunder are both in Los Angeles, first against the Lakers and then against the Clippers, so ideally, OKC leaves Los Angeles with the top seed (and the league's best record) already secured.
One big reason for this being the ideal scenario is the potential playoff matchups coming into focus. The second-to-last game for the Thunder is at Denver. With the Lakers reeling due to injuries to Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, the Nuggets have a real shot to take the 3rd seed. Denver taking third means OKC would be facing the winner of a Lakers-Rockets series, rather than another second-round matchup against Denver. I mean, if we're being honest, having Denver and San Antonio both on the other side of the bracket is the best-case playoff path for OKC.
Which leads to the reason why winning the next two are so important. The Thunder could travel to Denver, no. 1 secure, and live with a loss there because it would help Denver get to 3. It would also allow the Thunder to rest its stars and, fingers crossed, go into the playoffs rested and as healthy as the team has been all season.
