OKLAHOMA CITY — As the ball went up in the air, Chet Holmgren barely had to lift his sneakers off the court to win the opening tipoff. After all, Guerschon Yabusele didn’t even attempt to fight for possession mid-air. It took less than two minutes to see how this contest would play out.

The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 133100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Both squads played their second-stringers and third-stringers for different motivations. Injury reports took two pages to type out. Despite that, it was a wire-to-wire victory for OKC’s B squad, which led by as many as 41 points “Thought it was a very professional win. That’s a team that’s scored 130plus points in the last two games. They’ve really scored the ball lately and I thought we set a tone early in the game defensively,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “And then offensively, we got out a ran. We really shared the ball. Played unselfishly. I thought everybody that went into the game played with no agenda and just played for the team. Just a good outcome with that result.”

The Thunder quickly scored the first 10 points. Isaiah Joe swung the ball over to Jaylin Williams for a 3-pointer that forced the Sixers to call an early timeout. That didn’t do much as Chet Holmgren led them to a season-high 42 points in the opening frame. They had a 42-26 lead after the first quarter.

The Sixers utilized a 14-1 run in the second frame to get as close as six points, but the Thunder had a strong finish to the first half to enter the break with a controlling 70-56 lead. The second half saw little drama as the contest got away from Philly.

The Thunder went on a 23-7 run to blow it open. They outscored the Sixers 33-18 in the third quarter and entered the fourth frame with a 103-74 advantage. At that point, a running clock would’ve been nice. The only unresolved storyline left was if Williams would get his second career triple-double. He finally did when Adam Flagler gave him his 10th assist off a 3-pointer.

The Thunder shot 52% from the field and went 24-of-52 (46.2%) from 3. They shot 15-of-20 on free throws. They had 36 assists on 47 baskets. Seven Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Holmgren had 19 points and seven rebounds. Williams tallied a 19-point triple- double. Aaron Wiggins scored 26 points and Joe scored 21 points. Dillon Jones had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in his first career start. Branden Carlson had 16 points and Kenrich Williams had 13 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Sixers shot 37% from the field and went 18-of-57 (31.6%) from 3. They shot 12-of-16 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 35 baskets. Five Sixers players scored double-digit points.

After a 46-point explosion against the Houston Rockets, Quentin Grimes was limited to 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting and five assists. Justin Edwards scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Chuma Okeke logged 14 points and 15 rebounds. Yabusele had 11 points and four rebounds. Alex Reese had 11 points and five rebounds.

Both teams got what they wanted out of this weird NBA contest. The Sixers improved their lottery odds and the Thunder gave several of their top players the game off after a grueling road trip. This is classic NBA March basketball where front offices’ priorities get ramped up near the finish line and leak over to the court.

Still, despite the weirdness surrounding this game with several top players out, the blowout win helped secure several season feats for the Thunder. They clinched the Northwest division title, matched their win total from last season already and inched closer to the West’s top seed after battling out for it last year in the regular-season finale.

“I told and congratulated the team it’s not something we take for granted. Everything in the NBA, every win is just one game earned. When you win your division, it’s earned and takes a lot of hard work,” Daigneault said. “This particular group has not taken any shortcuts to get to this point. We’re incredibly grateful anytime you get the opportunity to win something. It’s something we don’t take for granted. This group of guys in particular deserve to share in these accomplishments together.”

Chet Holmgren finished with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds. He shot 2-of-4 from 3 and went 5-of-6 on free throws. He also had a block.

Instead of using these unique circumstances to be the undisputed best scorer, Holmgren played within the flow of the contest. The Sixers had no answer against him as he was a mismatch nightmare throughout the contest before he sat out the fourth quarter.

For the second time this season, Jaylin Williams emulated Nikola Jokic. The playmaking center saw the offense revolve around him like a sun to its galaxy. The Thunder’s bench players surrounded him and moved off-ball for easy looks. Passing it out to Flagler, he logged his second career triple-double in the fourth quarter.

Williams finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 17 rebounds and 11 assists. He shot 3-of-5 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He had two steals.

Next up for the Thunder is Charlotte Hornets tonight at home at 7 p.m.