Thunder Sweep Wizards in Season Series with Friday Blowout

The last time the Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards squared off, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points, which both tied his, at the time, career-high and won the game. The Thunder took down the Wizards again, but this time in more convincing fashion with a final score of 127-110.

This time around, the Thunder began the game with a big jump on the Wizards. They took the first quarter 35-17 and saw production around the board.

That momentum from the first quarter would follow through the half, as they led 68-42 at halftime. The margin is the Thunder’s biggest halftime lead for the Thunder this season.

Five different players were at or within one basket of scoring in double-figures for the half. The production wasn’t pinned by any one player, but rather everyone succeeded in their own right. They played a very similar game in their dominating win against the Boston Celtics, two games ago. They also shot 10-of-20 on 3-pointers as a team, too.

There was an early emphasis from the Wizards to double-team and throw whatever they could at Gilgeous-Alexander to slow him down. His response was to divert to teammates, which allowed for him to lead the Thunder in the third quarter, as he scored 16 of his 30 points in the quarter. The Thunder finished the third quarter with a 103-80 lead.

Having the rest of the squad contributing efficiently while Gilgeous-Alexander hands out buckets is something the Thunder haven’t seen a ton of, but is proving to be too hard to contain for other teams.

The Wizards weren’t going to roll over, though, as they found themselves with a 12-0 run to cut the Thunder’s lead to 14 points with around eight minutes to go in the game. Big minutes from Lu Dort would help stop the run and help the Thunder regain control of the game.

For the rest of the game, both teams traded some buckets, but the Thunder would eventually hold on and cruise to the win.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey continue to prove that they can play alongside each other and play well. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting while Giddey added 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 2-of-2 on 3-pointers. All five starters scored in double-digits, too.

Coming into this game, the narrative surrounded Kristaps Porzingis and his 7-foot-3 frame against the depleted Thunder frountcourt. However, the Thunder held him to 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

As a team, the Thunder shot 51 percent from the field and 45.9 percent on 3-pointers. It was an impressive showing for the Thunder on both sides of the ball.

The Thunder’s next bit of action will come against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, January 8th where we will see a battle between Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.