Late Surge Lifts Thunder

By Nick Gallo and Paris Lawson | okcthunder.com

Box Score: OKC 114, UTA 98

NBA games are always predicated on runs, and tonight, it was the Thunder who made the final and most impactful one. Coming off of two games against proven high-end squads in the Western Conference, the Thunder squared off on Thursday against a Utah Jazz team who was fighting for their NBA careers, if not their 2022-23 season. 

Against a bunch of hungry players who haven’t put a ton on tape to scout against, the Thunder simply took care of business, parried every Utah run and used a 19-2 burst that spanned the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to seal the deal on a 114-98 road victory. 

The Thunder got things going with an 18-5 run that ended the first quarter (featuring an Isaiah Joe buzzer-beating three-pointer) and began the second quarter. It was OKC’s second unit that took advantage of those stretches as the Thunder’s reserves outscored Utah’s 50-27 in the game. 

The Jazz responded with a 23-10 extended stretch in the second quarter, including a 14-2 run to close the first half. Recognizing the need to just stick with it and play through the 48 minutes of the game with effort and focus, the Thunder stayed the course and took charge to outscore the Jazz 59-46 after halftime. 

Nick: In a meaningful game for the Thunder on the road, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took the leadership reins and helped ignite his team on back-to-back offensive possessions. The first one was with extra effort and hustle, and the second was because of smarts and quickness. After missing a step-back 3, Shai recognized the flight of the ball and rushed to the top of the key to get his own second chance, then lined up another three that went down. On the next play, SGA attacked downhill and got fouled, setting up a sideline out of bounds play. Catching Utah sleeping just a bit, Gilgeous-Alexander made eye contact with Josh Giddey and quickly darted from the 3-point line through the free-throw line. Giddey picked out a lofted pass over the top of the defense right into Shai’s stride and the result was a wide open dunk. For the game, Shai led the Thunder with 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. 

Paris: Right after taking one of his patented charges on the defensive end, Thunder rookie big man Jaylin Williams then brought some energy to the offensive end. The Arkansas native stepped into a trail 3-pointer at the top of the key – his first boom of the night. Just a couple of possessions later, the Thunder quickly inbounded the ball after a made basket by Utah. Williams ran up the floor quickly, beating the defense down the court. His teammate, Jalen Williams brought the ball up the floor and advanced it to Williams who was spotted up in the left corner right in front of the Thunder’s bench. J-Will sank the uncontested 3-pointer and added another three points to his 11 total for the night. 

Nick: Josh Giddey, the passing maestro, and Isaiah Joe, the sharpshooter, got the chance to interchange roles during a stretch in the middle of the second quarter when the Thunder built up a 16-point lead. With the defense keyed in on Joe at the top of the key, Giddey flared over the top to the left wing and Joe lobbed a pass over to his teammate for a catch-and-shoot 3. While that was an inversion of what opposing defenses usually see, the Thunder made sure to give the Jazz a dose of its normal attack. This time it was Giddey who dished to Joe who used a flare screen to create some separation for himself on the wing for a wide-open catch-and-shoot. The Thunder hit 10 3s in the first half against a Jazz zone defense that didn’t want to give up anything in the paint. For the game, OKC knocked down 15 threes. 

Paris: In the three previous meetings against the Jazz, the Thunder racked up an average of 26 points off Utah’s turnovers. Thursday’s matchup in Salt Lake City followed much of the same script as the Thunder’s defense continued to force turnovers throughout the first half. In one example of how the Thunder forced 10 points off turnovers in the first half, Josh Giddey stole the ball off a bad pass from Kelly Olynyk. The second-year guard accelerated up the floor where he found Isaiah Joe spotted up behind the arc on the other end who sank the triple in transition. For the night, the Thunder’s defense forced 19 Jazz turnovers which translated to 26 points of offense on the other end. 

Nick: After a tough first half where Jalen Williams shot just 1-for-4 and committed three fouls, the rookie bounced back and got himself involved on the offensive end. He took an outlet pass after a block by Jaylin Williams and slammed home a two-handed dunk, then he drove and slipped a slick bounce pass to Josh Giddey for a quick flip shot in the lane. That was one of 5 assists for Williams, and one of 29 for the Thunder in the game. One possession after his assist, Jalen attacked quickly in transition and used an inside-out dribble with the right hand to blow by the Jazz defense and score easily off the glass. 

Paris: The second chances began to rack up for the Thunder in the third quarter. In the opening possession of the half, OKC managed to pull down two offensive rebounds on one possession that ultimately led to a layup by Jalen Williams at the rim. Everyone got involved in the Thunder’s offensive rebounding efforts including Lu Dort and Josh Giddey who both rank in the top 10 among guards in offensive rebounds per game. For the night, the Thunder pulled down 17 offensive rebounds which led to 24 second chance points compared to just 10 for the Jazz. 

Nick: The Thunder’s bench was excellent all night in this one, with all four players scoring in double figures. In the fourth quarter, it was Aaron Wiggins who had a burst of production with his typical tenacity on both ends of the floor. With 11 of his 15 total points coming in the final frame, Wiggins helped slam the door on this Thunder victory. He banged home a corner 3 off a dish from Josh Giddey, then he returned the favor to Giddey on a second chance assist to his fellow second-year guard. In transition, Giddey set up Wiggins with some space to work in the lane, and he scored on a hard-charging drive and finish off the glass and through some massive contact. To officially end this one, Wiggins made a pick-six steal and slam dunk to put OKC up 110-91 with 3:07 to go. 

Paris: In addition to the four bench players, the Thunder also had three of its starters score in double figures. All-in-all seven guys racked up 10 or more points against the Jazz which marks the seventh time this season where the Thunder has reached the mark. It was a total team effort in game number 81 to take down the Jazz – eight players cashed in a 3-pointer, eight players scored nine or more points and five guys had six or more rebounds. 

“There’s going to be times where you go through cold spells shooting the ball. I thought that was the case during that run. I thought we got good looks against the zone that didn’t hit and had a couple untimely turnovers where we had good intentions and we ended up turning it over. We needed the whole 48 and I thought our guys showed good poise and resilience to just kind of play possession after possession for the full game.” –Coach Daigneault

“We obviously know what's at stake, but I thought the group did a great job of responding from the past few nights where we haven't been at our best and I thought tonight, we took the right approach into the game and we've disregarded who we played against, and played our style of basketball for the most part of 48.” –Josh Giddey

After a couple of off days at home, OKC will host the Memphis Grizzlies inside Paycom Center on Easter Sunday for the final game of the regular season.

By Zach Beeker | OKC Thunder