OKLAHOMA CITY — Being heavy favorites, the Oklahoma City Thunder took care of business in their dominating 134-120 win over the short-handed Utah Jazz.
OKC led wire-to-wire against a struggling Utah squad that missed several key players and had lost 8 of its last 11 games entering Monday. The final margin might’ve been just 14 points, but sans a sloppy fourth quarter, the Thunder were thoroughly the better team.
“I thought we stacked a lot of good possessions,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “I thought we played together on both ends of the floor tonight and that’s encouraging. I thought we got better tonight.”
After spending previous years being viewed as an easy win on the calendar for other teams, the roles have reversed for OKC against rebuilding Utah — who were without arguably its three best players in Lauri Markkanen, John Collins and Walker Kessler.
The Thunder created a 34-20 lead following the first quarter. The 14-point lead remained as OKC entered halftime. In the third quarter, OKC put this game to bed with a 45-point period that grew its lead to a game-high 38 points.
The Thunder entered the fourth quarter with a 36-point lead to turn the final period into garbage time. Utah managed to cut it to 12 points in the final frame with a 45-point fourth quarter, but it proved to be inconsequential.
The Thunder feasted on offense as they shot 52% from the field and went 18-of-38 (47.4%) from 3. OKC also shot 16-of-17 (94.1%) from the free-throw line and dished out 35 assists on 50-made baskets.
“A lot of the layups were cuts,” Daigneault said on their offense. “I thought the guys did a really good job at taking cuts tonight both in the action and off-ball.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 30 points in 17 shots as OKC finished with six players scoring double-digit points. All 15 Thunder players received extended playing time.
This blowout win also marked some of the best performances of the season for both Josh Giddey and Ousmane Dieng. Giddey finished with a near triple-double while Dieng scored a season-high 18 points.
“I think it validates the time he spent in the G League,” Daigneault said on Dieng. “He played four games in a very short period of time… He’s a better player. He came back obviously very sharp from that experience.”
Meanwhile, Utah’s offense failed to generate any rhythm during the meaningful portion of this contest. The Jazz shot 49% from the field and went 12-of-38 (31.6%) from 3. In the first three quarters, those numbers were 40% from the field and 21% from 3.
Jordan Clarkson — their best available scorer — was held to eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. Rookie guard Keyonte George led the way for Utah with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting.
Collin Sexton scored 20 points off the bench. Simone Fontecchio also contributed with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Both franchises are going in completely different directions as OKC enters the infancy stages of a contending window while Utah begins a rebuild. Despite this, the Thunder didn’t play around with their food.
“We don’t play the record,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on not overlooking the Jazz. “There’s 29 (other) teams in this NBA that are really good and can beat anybody on any night and that’s how we approach it.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
It was easy work for Gilgeous-Alexander as the Jazz simply doesn’t roster the personnel to defend the All-NBA guard.
In 28 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. He shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
The Thunder dominated the Jazz when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the floor with a game-high plus-35. He helped blow this game open in the third quarter with 15 points.
Without Kessler, Gilgeous-Alexander attacked the paint and shot an efficient 9-of-12 in that area. The 25-year-old enjoyed a rare short night as he sat out the entire fourth quarter.
“We also wanted to make sure we’re building the right habits building forward no matter what the score was,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on playing at the same intensity level in the third quarter.
Served this on a platter 🍽️ pic.twitter.com/g5rrzLuEkA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 12, 2023
Absolute FILTH from Shai 🤢#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/0voT9L98S4
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 12, 2023
Firing on all cylinders in OKC 🏎️#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/NrUDBCAGgB
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 12, 2023
SGA AND ISAIAH JOE BEAT THE BUZZER 🤯#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/UbctgsgFH3
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 12, 2023
Josh Giddey: B
After a rough extended stretch, Giddey has had two quality games in a row to build off of.
In 24 minutes, Giddey collected a near triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He shot 5-of-11 from the field and went 2-of-3 from 3.
It was a quick start for Giddey as he had three points and four rebounds in the opening three minutes. The 21-year-old tried to collect a triple-double in the fourth quarter but fell short of achieving it.
“He played well tonight,” Daigneault said on Giddey. “…He’s having to evolve right now with the way he’s playing off-ball and I thought tonight he did a nice job of that.
“He found some cuts, he had really good ball movement plays, he’s made good passes in the middle of the floor. That’s something we’ve adjusted to.”
Pace out the gates 💨 pic.twitter.com/QbSKBI30pV
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 12, 2023
❌ marks the spot
📺 @BallySportsOK pic.twitter.com/EP8t4f7kXc
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 12, 2023
Ousmane Dieng: A-minus
After a lengthy stint with the G League’s OKC Blue, Dieng turned in his best performance of the season yet.
Playing the lowly Jazz, Dieng checked in early in the first quarter as he was on his way to a season-high 26 minutes. The 20-year-old scored a season-high 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and went 3-of-4 from 3. He also had three rebounds and three assists.
After averaging just 10 minutes in his first 12 appearances, the second-year forward translated the success and confidence he gained in the G League over to the Thunder.
“I think that as a good time with the Blue,” Dieng said on his G League stint. “It gave me confidence and some minutes. They wanted me to play like I play here with the Blue. I think that was good for me. Today I had to show the progress I made.”
Ous tiptoes for the two-hand jam 🔨 pic.twitter.com/ruv9L4nSYX
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 12, 2023
Passin’ with precision 👀 pic.twitter.com/KLOLy0fLTe
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 12, 2023
18 points for Ousmane!#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/2QJppYuzLG
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 12, 2023
Chet Holmgren: C
Quickly building a double-digit lead, OKC didn’t need much out of Holmgren in this lopsided win.
In 25 minutes, Holmgren had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He shot 2-of-3 from 3. The 21-year-old rookie didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
Holmgren helped blow this game open in the third quarter with 11 points to push OKC’s lead to as large as 38 points.
“I’d say it’s less on taking those games seriously and taking every game seriously,” Holmgren said on their mindset against below .500 teams. “…At the end of the day, we’re fighting with ourselves to be the best Thunder team we can be.”
Rookie of the Year energy 🍿#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/9iOLDboiZa
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 12, 2023
Give, go, slam! 💥
@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/W0kf2XN76h— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 12, 2023
