Thunder Bolster Play-In Chances in Win Over Jazz

After the Oklahoma City Thunder took a loss to the Golden State Warriors – their third straight loss in a row – they fell to an even record with the Dallas Mavericks, who had just defeated the Kings to even things up in the standings.

The Thunder own the tiebreaker with the Mavericks, but with two games remaining for each team, their matchup against the Utah Jazz was much more important. On Thursday night, they took care of business, winning 114-98. They now put the pressure on the Mavericks to win both of their next two matchups.

In the first quarter, the Thunder were unable to build too big of a lead, but were able to create marginal separation against the Jazz, who were without their entire starting lineup to injury. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with nine points in the first frame.

To open up the second quarter, though, the Thunder went on a 10-0 run, which helped expand their lead. Again, this was a game they were supposed to, and favored, to win.

Though the Jazz stopped the bleeding, the Thunder were able to slowly build their lead beyond that. Big plays from both Isaiah Joe and Lindy Waters, the Thunder’s best shooter, helped the Thunder do so. The Jazz, once again, weathered the storm and even played their way back into the game.

The Thunder led 55-52 at halftime. Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t score in the second frame. Isaiah Joe led the Thunder offensively with 11 points. Josh Giddey, along with Gilgeous-Alexander had nine points.

Again, in the third quarter, the Thunder was unable to build an incredible lead, but they did build another lead. Gilgeous-Alexander got up to 20 points in the game. The Thunder led 84-76.

In response to the quarter, though, the Thunder started the fourth quarter, the Thunder took a 14-0 lead. They regained control of the game and Gilgeous-Alexander was still resting on the bench.

Leading up to clutch time, the Thunder held a double-digit lead and were holding off the Jazz. Time was running out in one of the biggest games for the Thunder's Play-In Tournament hopes, and the Thunder took control of their destiny.

With all hands on deck in the Thunder's nine-man rotation, the Thunder took care of business. They ended up with the 114-98 win.

It wasn't a huge night for Gilgeous-Alexander, as he finished with only 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

One of the biggest performances of the game was Aaron Wiggins and his 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and huge impact on both ends.

Giddey was the Thunder's second-leading scorer with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

The Thunder eventually got away from their nine-man rotation as they had a big enough lead to comfortably run away with the game. The Jazz are now eliminated from a Play-In Tournament, and the Thunder have an interesting last game of the season ahead of them against the Memphis Grizzlies.

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