Panic started to set into the fan base.
Somehow, the short-handed Utah Jazz wouldn’t go away as they cut the Oklahoma City Thunder’s lead to one point with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
In what was basically a must-win game, it felt like the Thunder were letting their play-in tournament hopes slip away with another poor loss to a tanking team.
However, the Thunder responded with a 19-2 run that helped the Thunder blow the game open and come away with the 114-98 win.
“Obviously, we wanted to win the game. Our players wanted to win the game but the game’s still 48 minutes,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “You still need to play all 48 and you still need all 48. When a game’s that long, there’s gonna be times where the other team has some momentum.”
It was an odd game: One team dominated inside while the other was on (relative) fire from 3.
This game was a textbook example of why 3>2.
The Jazz shot 41-of-83 (49.4%) from the field and scored 66 points inside of the paint on 33-of-45 (73.3%) shooting. But the 3-point shooting was as cold as a February night in SLC: Utah went an ugly 5-of-31 (16.1%).
Meanwhile, the Thunder shot a poor 39-of-97 (40.2%) from the field but made up for it in the 3-point department and they shot 15-of-45 (33.3%) from deep.
“I thought we generated pretty high-quality 3s even though we didn’t shoot it great,” Daigneault said.
A 30-point difference from 3 in a 16-point game will hide a lot of mistakes.
The sense of urgency increased after the halftime break for the win-hungry Thunder.
After a Lindy Waters III 3 expanded OKC’s lead to 53-38 with a tick under four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Jazz finished the half on a 14-2 run to make it a three-point game at the half.
Following that run, the Thunder outscored the Jazz, 59-46, in the second half en route to a much-needed 16-point win against an injury-riddled team.
“Just weathering the storm, sticking true to our style of play,” Aaron Wiggins said. “Just being able to not be fazed by whatever they were throwing at us. They had a couple of different zone looks that we struggled with early but we were able to do a good job at sticking to what we do.”
The Thunder bench was the primary reason they won this critical game. The Thunder bench outscored the non-SGA starters, 50-42. OKC’s reserves also outscored Utah’s, 50-27.
“I thought they did a great job,” Daigneault said about the bench. “They just played to our identity on both ends. I thought they really string stops together. Forced the Jazz to earn things on the offensive end.”
Meanwhile, the Jazz were without several of their top players: All-Star Lauri Markannen (hand contusion), Walker Kessler (concussion protocol), Jordan Clarkson (finger sprain), Collin Sexton (hamstring injury maintenance), Talen Horton-Tucker (ankle soreness) were all out.
This has been a theme in recent games for the Thunder against the skeleton crews of the opposition; the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons are two recent examples.
The Jazz were led by Kris Dunn, who finished with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting, eight assists and seven rebounds. Kelly Olynyk also had 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Rookie guard Ochai Agbaji had 13 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
“I thought the group did a great job from responding the past few nights where we haven’t been at our best,” Josh Giddey said. “I thought tonight, we took the right approach into the game and we disregarded who we played against.”
With the win, the Thunder are half a game up on the 11th-place Dallas Mavericks, who have two games remaining at home against the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.
It’s a pretty simple task for OKC in its final game of the season: win and it’s in.
The Thunder have a chance to officially clinch a play-in spot against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, April 9 at home in the regular-season finale.
The Thunder can also clinch if the Mavericks lose one of their final two games, but wouldn’t it be more declarative if OKC did that by beating the second-seeded Grizzlies?
“It’s another opportunity for us to play a game that’s got some weight and test ourselves in that way, which we relish,” Daigneault said. “… These are all experiences we can grow from and we hope to be a team that’s playing significant games for a long time.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: B-minus
For what feels like the first time in forever, Shai Gilgeos-Alexander had a quiet night.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting and went 7-of-10 from the free-throw line. He also had seven assists and seven rebounds.
It was his first sub-25-point game in nearly three months.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 1-of-5 from 3 in a rare high-volume night from deep — perhaps a sign of fatigue? More likely though, those were the only shots he could’ve generated playing against Utah’s 1-3-1 zone.
After scoring nine first-quarter points, Gilgeous-Alexander was held to just 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting for the rest of the game.
Although, 11 of his points came in the third quarter — as OKC desperately needed each and every single one of those baskets to hold off a Jazz comeback attempt.
Daigneault said that he thought Gilgeous-Alexander did a great job at playing within the flow of the offense by not forcing anything and trying to break the Jazz’s zone defense and frequent double teams.
“I thought it was a good leadership game for him,” Daigneault said. “Just in terms of his consistency through the 48 — taking what the defense gave him.”
Giddey inbounds passing >>> pic.twitter.com/AK3QqmFPu1
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
Oh my, Shai 🫣@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/hrupeZQ6vD
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) April 7, 2023
Josh Giddey: B-plus
With the other three starters struggling, Josh Giddey helped Gilgeous-Alexander with some of the offensive load.
Giddey finished with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, eight assists, eight rebounds and three steals. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Giddey sealed the win with a 3v1 transition layup that gave the Thunder an 18-point lead with 4:05 left in the game.
Capitalizing on the turnovers! pic.twitter.com/vi7mZXzbfv
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
Finding each other 🤝 pic.twitter.com/kVsMRwsfkh
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
One Giddey special, please ☝️ pic.twitter.com/ndRtB1Cljz
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
Aaron Wiggins: A-plus
The bench was the hero in this win as it charged OKC’s 59-46 second-half scoring advantage.
The quartet of Aaron Wiggins, Dario Saric, Isaiah Joe and Lindy Waters III headlined the bench mob as each played at least 16 minutes and were plus-minus monsters.
Wiggins was a plus-19 in 28 minutes; Saric was a plus-20 in 23 minutes; Joe was a plus-9 in 21 minutes; Waters III was a plus-16 in 16 minutes.
Wiggins led the way for the bench as he finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Leading by just eight points, Wiggins scored a team-high 11 points in the fourth quarter to cap the 16-point win.
😮💨 pic.twitter.com/jhkSRwZC9Y
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
Good work, 2️⃣1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/pKaqB9zBhq
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
Opportunities to get out and run >>> pic.twitter.com/QASInAWCD3
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 7, 2023
Dario Saric: A-plus
After being out of the rotation for the last couple of weeks, Dario Saric was OKC’s second-best bench player among a second unit that sealed the victory.
Saric finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds. He shot 2-of-4 from 3 and recorded two blocks.
Saric led the team in plus-minus with a plus-20 in 23 minutes. He was also the second-leading scorer in the fourth quarter for the Thunder with nine points.
This was a stellar performance by the bench in a game where the starters struggled.
