Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 134-120 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Monday.
The Thunder have won back-to-back games and 10 of their past 13, while the Jazz lost for the third consecutive game and for the ninth time in 12 games.
Oklahoma City set its season high with 35 assists, led by eight from Josh Giddey and seven by Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder scored 28 points off 17 Jazz turnovers, 11 off five turnovers in the decisive third quarter.
Oklahoma City scored 45 points in the third to stretch its lead to 36 heading into the fourth.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in the third and Chet Holmgren added 11 as the Thunder shot 17 of 26 (65.4 percent) from the floor and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to put the game away.
Both teams were short-handed.
Utah was without its frontcourt. Lauri Markkanen missed his eighth consecutive game with a left hamstring strain, while Walker Kessler sat out due to right foot soreness and John Collins missed his first game of the season, sidelined by an illness.
Oklahoma City was without Luguentz Dort, who was out because of a left ankle sprain.
Giddey had his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Jazz were led by a career-high 30 points from rookie Keyonte George on 10-of-17 shooting while Collin Sexton added 20 off the bench.
The Thunder led from the start after scoring the game’s first eight points.
Utah settled in and eventually tied the game with about four minutes to go in the first before Oklahoma City closed the quarter with a 16-2 run.
Much of the production during that stretch came from the Thunder’s bench, though Gilgeous-Alexander scored six points during the run.
Ousmane Dieng scored seven of his season-high 18 during that stretch, and the Thunder led 34-20 after one.
In the second, the Jazz responded with a late run of their own to cut a 20-point deficit to 11 as the first half wound down. Isaiah Joe took a feed from Gilgeous-Alexander and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to stretch the lead back to 14 entering the break.
–Field Level Media
