OKLAHOMA CITY — What started as a point differential watch slowly turned into a steal watch. Then it swung back to a point differential watch by the final buzzer. Plenty of games were played within the actual game by OKC.

The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 133106 win over the Utah Jazz. The lopsided victory helped OKC clinch the West’s Group B and advance to the 2024 NBA Cup quarterfinals. They will host the wildcard Dallas Mavericks in a knockout-round contest.

“I thought our execution tonight was better along with the physicality,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Couple of lapses but otherwise very, very good night on that end of the floor. Great gameplan. I thought Dort did a good job on Markannen. Offensively tonight, I thought we played with great looseness in a good way.”

The point differential ultimately didn’t matter as the Phoenix Suns aided OKC by beating the San Antonio Spurs, who were in first place of the West’s Group B entering the final slate of group games. Still, the Thunder welcomed a stress-free win after a stressful road trip filled with close finishes.

The Thunder held a 32-25 lead after the first quarter. A 30-point second frame pushed OKC’s halftime lead to 62-50. The highlight of the opening two quarters was on defense. The Thunder forced turnover after turnover and flirted with a franchise record. They finished the first half with an eye-popping plus-27 attempted shots differential.

Despite the sea-sized gap in attempts, Utah stayed within striking distance. That was until a decisive third quarter by OKC. The Thunder tallied 40 points in the third frame and a 20-2 blew it open. They lead 102-75 entering the fourth quarter.

A dominant stretch by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams was rewarded with rest. Both hit bucket after bucket as OKC overwhelmed Utah. Neither played in the fourth quarter as the Thunder’s reserves kept a healthy distance on the scoreboard for NBA Cup tiebreaker purposes.

The Thunder shot 52% from the field and went 17-of-47 (36.2%) from 3. They went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. They had 32 assists on 53 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with an efficient 26 points. Williams had a casual 28 points. Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins were OKC’s other double-digit scorers.

Meanwhile, the Jazz shot 54% from the field and went 13-of-35 (37.1%) from 3. They went 17-of-22 from the free-throw line. They had 21 assists on 38 baskets. Six Jazz players scored double-digit points.

Lauri Markannen was limited to 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting and six rebounds. Collin Sexton had 17 points and four assists. Walker Kessler totaled a 17-point and 11-rebound double-double.

The Thunder tied a season- high 18 steals in this lopsided win. They forced Utah to commit 29 turnovers. That led to a ridiculous plus-32 shot attempt advantage over the Jazz. That’ll win most games. OKC flirted with a franchise- record steals but was one shy.

From what Daigneault and the Thunder players said afterward, it didn’t sound like the NBACup was a high priority for them. The complex clinching scenarios that needed a degree in math and the meaningless risk of possible injuries to players turned off OKC from chasing the point differential tiebreaker in case it needed it.

“Zero,” Daigneault said on his motivation to pad their point differential. “Number one because of player health. Imagine if it’s an NBA Cup game and we’re up by 30 and I run a 35-minute player out there and, God forbid, something happens because I’m chasing a point differential. That would be really bad for the league and the team. I don’t love the design because it’s incentivizing that. Or running the score up on the opponent. There’s a certain grace you win with that they create an incentive that flips that on its head. I think there’s other ways to do it.”

Nonetheless, this was still a necessary win for the Thunder. Title contenders should run up the score against one of the league’s worst teams. That’s what OKC did against Utah in a layup victory. Gilgeous-Alexander only needed three quarters to put this one away. He finished with 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, seven assists and six rebounds. He shot 2-of-6 from 3 and went 2-of-2 from the freethrow line.

A 15-point third quarter by Gilgeous-Alexander was the defining moment. He easily got his spots and relied on his silky-smooth jumper to generate baskets. A lack of a whistle didn’t stop him from attacking the Jazz and producing points at an efficient clip.

Jalen Williams finished with 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting, five assists and two rebounds. He shot 1-of-4 from 3 and went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. He only logged 28 minutes before he sat out the fourth quarter.

Like Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams also exploded for 15 points in the decisive third quarter. Those two combined for 30 of OKC’s 40 points in that frame. Utah had no answer inside the paint against the 23-year-old. He drove downhill several times and had easy scores in transition.

Isaiah Joe looked as confident as he looked all season. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, four assists and two rebounds. He shot 5-of-9 from 3.

The buckets came easy for the 25-year-old. The rim grew in size for him. He felt risky enough and pulled up deep from 3-point land several times. This was the best he looked on offense in what the Thunder hopes is a collective breakout game from deep.

Wallace finished with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, four assists and three steals. He shot 1-of-2 from 3. This is now two straight games of double-digit points for the 21-year-old. Before that, he only had three such outings in the first 19 games.

It’s been a frustrating start to the season for Wallace. The 41% 3-point shooter from last year is nearly 20% this year. But these last two games have represented some positive regression to the mean badly needed.

The OKC Thunder move on to the eight-team knockout stage. The NBA Cup semifinals and finals will be played in Las Vegas from Dec. 14-17.

The first-placed Thunder will host the wildcard Dallas Mavericks in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Houston Rockets will host the Golden State Warriors.

X