OKLAHOMA CITY — For the second straight time at home, a dull matchup received a boost of flavor. Like sprinkling spices to a bland dish, OKC added intrigue to its lopsided contest against New Orleans because of who was available. It had its ideal starting five for the first time since the preseason.

The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 137-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. They’ve now won six in a row by an average of an eye-popping 25.8 points as they slowly piece together a healthy rotation.

“Decent job on Williamson. He’s a guy you gotta have your chest on him. You gotta have your help behind it and the shot-blocking helps with the early helps by all the guys. It was a five-man defense tonight to make him as uncomfortable as we can make him,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “He made a couple of tough shots and still was productive. I thought we did a good job of executing the game plan on him.

There was no drama in-volved in this contest. Outside of an early lead by the Pelicans, the Thunder led for almost the entire game. A 33-20 first-quarter lead show-cased what OKC’s dream starting lineup could do. Chet Holmgren and Isai-ah Hartenstein limited looks inside. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort disrupted passing lanes and hounded the perimeter. Poor New Or-leans didn’t have adequate ball-handlers to keep up.

The second quarter saw the Thunder add to their lead with a 39-point frame. They entered halftime with a commanding 72-50 lead. All that was left was to play out the second half due to necessity.

Knowing the starters would likely sit the final frame, the Thunder starting lineup played the third quarter for nearly seven straight minutes. And man, it looked as good as OKC hoped for when it acquired Harten-stein and envisioned him next to Holmgren. They scored 30 points in the frame and entered the fourth quarter with a 102-78 lead.

The fourth quarter turned into garbage time. The Thunder’s bench was allowed to pad their numbers a bit. They led by as many as 39 points. Wiggins added 10 points to his total amid his best month of the season.

The Thunder shot 52% from the field and went 27-of-55 (49.1%) from 3. The 27 outside makes were a franchise best. They shot 12-of-16 on free throws. They had 29 assists on 49 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points. All 13 OKC played logged serious minutes.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points in three quarters. Holmgren had 12 points and five blocks. Williams scored 16 points. Wiggins had 24 points and Alex Caruso scored 12 points off the bench. Kenrich Williams also helped with 11 points.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans shot 44% from the field and went 10-of-27 (37%) from 3. They shot 19-of-28 on free throws. They had 19 assists on 36 baskets. Four Pelicans players scored double- digit points. All 11 New Orleans players logged serious minutes.

Fresh off a 40-point outburst, Zion William-son was held to 17 points and five rebounds. Trey Murphy III scored 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists. Yves Missi finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Hawkins scored 12 points off the bench.

This was another standard blowout win for the Thunder. They’ve normalized what’s usually an occasional treat for the other 29 fanbases. At this point, the rest of the regular season will be about letting Holmgren gain a rhythm. Zero drama remains regarding seeding and where this team ranks in the West’s hierarchy.

“Obviously, we had to endure a lot of ups and downs and fluidity with the roster with the injuries this year but guys have done just a great job of adapting,” Daigneault said. “Now, we’re adapting again. The double-big thing is new for us. It’s new for Chet and so there’s going to be some growing pains with that. But I thought in Game 1, it gave us a good baseline to start from tonight.”

It was another day at the office for Gilgeous-Alexander. Playing with OKC’s four other preferred starters for the first time this year, it’s easy to see why everybody was hyped up about it in the entire offseason. He was afforded a slow start as the rest of OKC destroyed the Pelicans for a cushy lead. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting and two assists. He shot 4-of-9 from 3 and went 7-of-8 at the freethrow line. He only played 31 minutes before he sat out the entire fourth quarter. It’s the 14th time this season he’s done that.

It was a classic Gilgeous-Alexander performance. He had his 30-plus points in three quarters and sat out the final frame as the Thunder ran away on the scoreboard. The Pelicans had no answer for the MVP candidate as he got to his spots without breaking a sweat.