OKLAHOMA CITY — Catching the ball from the left wing, Chet Holmgren took a single dribble before he jumped and viciously completed the one-handed slam as Taylor Hendricks attempted to contest. The seven-foot rookie celebrated the highlight dunk by flexing and raising the roof.
The Oklahoma City Thunder utilized a strong second half to collect a 119-107 win over the Utah Jazz. Holmgren’s poster spotlighted one of his best performances of the season.
“Credit Utah, they really competed tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “Especially first half, I thought they were the more physical team after the first six minutes of the game. That really tested us. I thought in the second half, we showed really good persistence.
“We tried to amp it up on the defensive end. The game didn’t open up for us right away but we kept at it. That group to start the fourth quarter really ignited the rest of the game. I thought it was a good game for us, good resilience by the team and a good test.”
After building an 18-6 lead in the opening minutes, the Thunder exited the first quarter with a 31-25 lead. A 13-5 run by the Jazz in the second quarter saw them tie the contest at 44 apiece. Utah utilized a 29-point second frame to put OKC in a 54-53 deficit at halftime.
After trailing by four points, the Thunder rattled off 11 consecutive points to retake the lead at 68-61 with a little under eight minutes left in the third quarter. The Jazz got it within one point several times in the frame, but couldn’t retake the lead. OKC held a small 82-80 lead after the first three frames.
Any drama of a close contest coming down to the final seconds was quickly dispelled as OKC started the fourth quarter on an 18-6 run to create a 14-point lead with a little over eight minutes left.
After Utah turned it into a 100-90 contest, OKC went on a 12-3 run to build a 19-point lead with four minutes left. The Thunder cruised the rest of the way for the double-digit win over the short-handed Jazz.
“We want to be a 48-minute team and we want to be a team where any unit at any time can go on a little flurry like that,” Daigneault said about their fourth quarter.
The Thunder shot 49% from the field and went 10-of-34 (29.4%) from 3. They went 23-of-29 from the free-throw line. They dished out 29 assists on 43 baskets. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren combined for 66 points on 60% shooting. The seven-foot rookie played through contact and ate tough punches on some of his lobs.
"His nose is in every play, literally," Gilgeous-Alexander said about Holmgren. Daigneault added his only concern with the physicality is most of the hits usually land on Holmgren’s head: "Other than that, he's a pretty tough guy. He eats the punches."
Meanwhile, the Jazz — without Lauri Markannen and Jordan Clarkson — shot 44% from the field and went 10-of-36 (27.8%) from 3. They went 17-of-18 from the free-throw line. They had 20 assists on 40 baskets.
Collin Sexton scored 25 points on 12-of-19 shooting and had seven assists off the bench. John Collins finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Taylor Hendricks had 12 points and four rebounds.
It took a bit, but the Thunder ran away from this contest thanks to a second-half push. OKC’s 37-point fourth quarter helped collect a third straight win. It was a necessary win for the Thunder against a squad hoping to keep their first-round pick with losses.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
It was another efficient 30-point outing for Gilgeous-Alexander. He finished with 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting, seven assists, four steals and three rebounds. He shot 2-of-4 from 3 and went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
A slow first half saw Gilgeous-Alexander be limited to 11 points on 11 shots. He quickly turned that around in the second half with a 15-point third quarter. This featured 12 straight points for OKC at one point as he took over the game with drives to the basket and stepback jumpers.
The Jazz had no answer for Gilgeous-Alexander in the second half during his scoring flurry. He led OKC to a 66-point final two quarters.
This marked Gilgeous-Alexander’s 50th 30-plus point of the season, which has only been achieved by four other players in the last 35 seasons — Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, James Harden and Tracy McGrady. This is a pretty good company to share for the MVP candidate.
“It’s definitely cool,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on his feat. “An accolade I guess you can call it, it’s always amazing to be mentioned with the likes of guys that have done amazing things in the game.”
Chet Holmgren: A-plus
Soaring through the air, Holmgren’s poster on Hendricks was one of five loud jams for the seven-footer. It was a monster offensive night for the rookie, who was the best player in OKC’s win.
In 31 minutes, Holmgren had 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting, 14 rebounds and three blocks. He went 10-of-12 from the free-throw line and 1-of-5 from 3. He was a plus-27.
The 21-year-old got off to a hot start with nine points in the opening frame. He went off in the fourth quarter for 18 points on perfect 6-of-6 shooting. OKC kept feeding the seven-footer the ball off the roll and he kept producing points — whether in the form of a dunk or getting fouled.
“We’ve worked hard as a team — and the players have worked hard — to make sure we’re finding him on rolls,” Daigneault said about Holmgren’s performance. “He’s just such a vertical threat… He played totally within himself tonight. The system yielded (35) points.”
This was the best Holmgren has looked this season on the offensive end. He was the top-scoring option for OKC as it built distance on the scoreboard in the second half. In transition, he was a serious threat as a trailing big. A couple of his slams happened under that scenario.
This win saw flashes of how much of a scoring threat Holmgren can turn into once he fully develops as an NBA player. If this is the Holmgren the Thunder eventually unlock as he continues to progress, then they have something special brewing in OKC.
“Credit to my teammates for finding me for looks and stuff,” Holmgren said on his performance. “I was just trying to read the game and play the game. They were up high on coverage on a lot of those screen actions. I was just trying to play in the pocket and give the ball-handler an outlet.”
Jalen Williams: B-plus
With Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren carrying most of the scoring load, OKC didn’t need Williams to have a monster night.
In 32 minutes, Williams finished with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, four assists and two rebounds. He was a plus-28. The 22-year-old had nine points in the second quarter to help OKC stay in it and not let Utah grow a massive lead.
Williams frequently drove to the basket and shot 7-of-10 inside the paint. He was a weapon in transition with 10 points. Overall, OKC outscored Utah in that area, 35-8.
He connected with Holmgren on an alley-oop dunk that resulted in an and-one after Walker Kessler failed to stop the attempt. The chemistry between the two continues to grow as pick-and-roll partners.
“We got a stop on the other end, everything kinda came within transition,” Williams said. “The way we want to play, everything for us kinda starts with getting stops. It’s hard to run on makes. I think we just collectively got a couple big stops and then we were able to find the open man from there. They were kinda on their heels. Offensively, we’re in a flow. It just goes down from there.”
Cason Wallace: B
Starting in the second half in place of Lu Dort, Wallace was arguably OKC’s best bench player in this win.
In 22 minutes, Wallace had five points on 2-of-4 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Being assigned to fellow rookie Keyonte George, he limited him to nine points on 3-of-14 shooting.
The rookie-on-rookie assignment was strategic as Wallace has turned into one of OKC’s better perimeter defenders. Along with Lu Dort, the duo gives the Thunder plenty of options on who to match players with.
“Dort I think is a better Sexton matchup and Cason is a good Keyonte George matchup,” Daigneault said about the second-half lineup change. “The other thing is with Kessler in the game on the second unit, it puts a little bit more pressure on to pursue pick-and-rolls and get back on front because of the rim presence and the rebounding presence. That’s Dort’s deal.”
