Third 50-Point Scoring Night From Gilgeous-Alexander Pushes OKC Ahead of Phoenix

The Oklahoma City Thunder took on the Phoenix Suns, without Kevin Durant, for another Western Conference Test. The Thunder walked away with a 140-109 win over the Suns, pulling away in the third quarter.

It was another impressive night for star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who posted his third 50-point game in his last seven outings. Before that stretch, he'd never reached that mark. He finished with 50 on the dot on 18-for-29 shooting.

Without Durant, the Suns were down its leading scorer at 26.9 points per game. It didn't matter to start as both teams traded buckets back and forth. The Thunder barely led at the end of the first period at 37-33, with both teams finding scorers at different spots on the court.

Scoring to start the second half was a completely different story. Only five points were scored by either team to open the second period, coming from Phoenix's Bradley Beal and Tyus Jones hitting a triple. Forward Royce O'Neale followed that up with a three of his own.

Filling in for Durant is no easy task, but the Suns certainly didn't do a bad job at it. A variety of shooters chipped in, making life hard for the OKC defense. It also required both sides of the ball for the Thunder to wake up, with its opponent seeing an uptick in shot-making.

OKC's defensive struggles continued in the second half with Phoenix sixth man Bradley Beal at the helm of the offense. He operated in both roles in pick-and-roll situations, acting as a facilitator and a shooter. Regardless of the spot, Oklahoma City had issues stopping that situation.

Beal would end the game as the leading scorer for Phoenix. He finished with 25 points, three rebounds and six assists on 7-for-11 shooting in a rough game for the Suns. If it weren't for the free-throw line, lead guard Devin Booker's night also would have been rough. He finished with 19 points, but 13 came at the charity stripe.

The Thunder shot 25% from the perimeter and 45.3% from the field compared to Phoenix's 45.5% from outside and 60.5% from the field in the first half. OKC increased its general field goal percentage, which finished ahead of Phoenix at 50%.

Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished the first half with 27 points, there were no consistent scorers for the Thunder to open the game. Part of that was due to good Phoenix defense and the other half due to pure misses. Even with a rough scoring half, Oklahoma City only trailed 63-61 at the end of the first half.

The Thunder got the scoring spurt they needed to start the third quarter from a variety of scorers. Jalen Williams was the main contributor, with sprinkles of scoring assistance from Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein and Aaron Wiggins. Over halfway through the period, the Thunder led 83-69, changing the landscape of the game. By its end, Oklahoma City led 104-79.

OKC continued to stretch its lead by the end of the third quarter, almost all in part to Gilgeous-Alexander. He increased his scoring total to 46 points by the end of the quarter. They also did it on the defensive side of the ball, increasing Phoenix's turnover total to 15.

The fourth quarter was more of the same story for the Thunder. OKC sent its star core to the bench with eight minutes to play and continued to hang around that 30-point leading margin for the rest of the game.

OKC's next battle is against the Toronto Raptors at home at 7:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 7. Toronto acquired forward Brandon Ingram on the night of OKC's blowout over Phoenix, setting up a potentially interesting matchup.

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