Chet Holmgren scored 21 points in less than three quarters to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder a step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 146-111 home win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
With four games to play, the Thunder moved three games ahead of San Antonio. Oklahoma City’s magic number to clinch the West’s top spot for the third consecutive season is two.
Oklahoma City (62-16) has won five consecutive games and 17 of its last 18.
The Jazz (21-57) have dropped eight consecutive games, their longest skid of the season.
Any thought the Thunder would take the Jazz lightly in between games against the Lakers went out the window quickly with a 25-9 run over a six-minute span in the first quarter.
Oklahoma City went 10 for 13 from the field to start the game, including a pair of 3-pointers from Holmgren.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 of the Thunder’s 40 first-quarter points and had four assists, three rebounds and a steal in the opening quarter.
He finished with 20 points – his NBA-record 138th consecutive game with 20 points or more. – on 7-of-10 shooting.
Jalen Williams had 15 points and seven assists against his brother Cody’s team while Luguentz Dort continued his late-season shooting surge, going 5 of 7 with 13 points.
Oklahoma City finished with a season-high 40 assists.
Ajay Mitchell joined Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams with seven assists for the Thunder.
With the Thunder up by 31 with just more than five minutes remaining in the third, coach Mark Daigneault removed all five of his starters.
The Jazz quickly responded with a 12-2 run stopped by Jaylin Williams’ 3-pointer. The Jazz went scoreless for nearly three minutes to end the third as the Thunder kept Utah from climbing back into the game.
Brice Sensabaugh led the Jazz with 34 points. Kyle Filipowski added 20 and Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17.
Oklahoma City, which swept the four-game season series against Utah, has won its last two games by an average of 39 points.
The Thunder’s top two scoring performances of the season have come against the Jazz.
