The Thunder took care of business and is now two wins away from locking up the top spot.
The Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Utah Jazz on Sunday evening as a massive favorite, and they played exactly like it. Oklahoma City entered the game as a 24-point favorite and did not just win comfortably, it completely overwhelmed Utah in a 146-111 blowout. That final margin says everything about the way this game unfolded. This was not a night in which OKC played down to the competition or coasted through a game it was expected to win. The Thunder came out sharp, dominated early and never let up.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but the most important detail might have been his workload. He only had to play a little more than six minutes in the second half, which is a great outcome this late in the season. With the playoffs quickly approaching and a back-to-back in Los Angeles coming Tuesday and Wednesday, any opportunity to keep the stars fresh matters.
Those upcoming road games against the Lakers and Clippers could go a long way toward helping Oklahoma City lock up the league’s best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
The biggest difference in this game, outside of the obvious talent gap, was three-point shooting. The Thunder made 10 more threes than Utah, which by itself is a 30-point swing. Oklahoma City shot better than 50% from beyond the arc and nearly 60% from the field overall. The Thunder also won the rebounding battle, nearly doubled Utah in points off turnovers, led by as many as 43 points and controlled the game for virtually the entire night. It was complete, end-to-end domination on both sides of the floor.
Chet Holmgren led the Thunder with 21 points in just 22 minutes, and that balance was one of the biggest encouraging signs from the night. Seven different Oklahoma City players scored in double figures, which speaks to how connected and efficient the offense was from start to finish. Any time a team puts up 146 points, a lot went right offensively, and for the Thunder, just about everything did.
From here, OKC heads to the West Coast for a huge back-to-back, beginning Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers and continuing Wednesday against the LA Clippers. The Thunder is now close enough to the finish line that every win carries extra weight, and if this group can take care of business in Los Angeles, OKC could put itself in position to secure the best record in the NBA before the regular season ends.