THUNDER WIRE Dribbling past Dillon Brooks, Jalen Williams spun around and found Chet Holmgren underneath the basket. The All-Star player flew off the floor and threw down the one-handed jam despite a couple of Phoenix defenders going up for the contest.

The Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely destroyed the Phoenix Suns in a 136-109 win. They led by as many as 37 points. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker both out, the former’s depth flexed its muscles.

“We’ve been in a great rhythm. We shot the ball exceptionally well, obviously, so that always makes it look a little better. There’s variance to that,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Guys have done a great job at sharing the ball, making the right plays. We’re doing a great job playing through the bigs right now. They’re making really good decisions and keeping the floor connected. Another good night and finishes a strong trip.”

Even without the reigning MVP, the Thunder had no problem dissecting the Suns. Isaiah Hartenstein was thrown a couple of lobs in the opening moments. Lu Dort got past Brooks for the reverse layup. That foreshadowed the type of easy-mode night they’d have.

The Thunder had a 37-25 lead after the first quarter. The offense was in a flow from the jump. They went on a game-sealing 24-8 run in the second frame. Bringing in the bench, Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain ballooned OKC’s lead to an insurmountable amount.

Both OKC role players were sizzling off the bench. Joe buried Phoenix from the perimeter. McCain scored eight points within three possessions. Before you knew it, the Thunder had a 69-44 lead with a little over three minutes left in the second frame.

That continued the rest of the way. The Thunder had 38 points in the second quarter. They entered halftime with a 75-52 lead. That put this game away. Meanwhile, the Suns just didn’t have any scoring talent. With Booker out, they had to rely on Brooks as their top scorer. Which can get ugly pretty fast.

To start the second half, Williams had his best stretch of basketball in a frustrating season. He got to his spots at the elbow and baseline for midrange jumpers. He muscled his way through traffic to flick up floaters that fell through. He even swished in an outside shot. The one-time All-NBA talent had 19 points on red-hot shooting to humiliate the Suns.

Going for a driving layup, Williams hobbled his way to the other side of the floor after his first miss of the night. Holding his hamstring, he immediately went to the locker room. Uh oh. I mean, you gotta be kidding me. Only in his second game back from a 10-game absence due to a hamstring strain, the vibes shifted from a party to doom.

We’ll see what happens, but everybody knows how tricky hamstring recoveries can be. Even when you return. Williams’ exit clouded over the rest of the game. The Thunder scored 37 points in the third frame. They crossed the century mark by a pretty decent margin with a 112-80 lead.

Once Williams left, the rest of this game turned into background noise. Holmgren also didn’t play for most of the second half due to the lopsided score and being elbowed on the shoulder. The Thunder only scored 24 points in the final frame as the Suns failed to pretty up the final deficit in a battle of third-string players.

The Thunder shot 58% from the field and went 15-of-36 (41.7%) from 3. They shot 17-of-19 on free throws. They had 28 assists on 52 baskets. Seven Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Williams led the way with an efficient 28 points and five assists. Holmgren had 13 points and four rebounds. Joe scored 21 points off the bench. McCain tallied 12 points and four rebounds. Kenrich Williams finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Aaron Wiggins had 12 points and three rebounds. Jaylin Williams had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Meanwhile, the Suns shot 47% from the field and went 15-of-42 (35.7%) from 3. They shot 8-of-13 on free throws. They had 26 assists on 43 baskets. Four Suns players scored double-digit points.

Brooks finished with 23 points and five rebounds. Royce O’Neale finished with 12 points. Jordan Goodwin had 12 points and four rebounds. Jamaree Bouyea tallied 11 points and six assists.

Great, all-around win for the Thunder. That’s only clouded by Williams’ presumed injury. We wait for an update on that. As you saw in these last two wins, they badly need the 24-year-old if they want to reach their ceiling of being a back-to-back NBA champion. But no point in stressing about something ambiguous until we get a clearer picture of what exactly happened.

Back to the game, everybody on the Thunder had their moment. An impressive showing considering Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence. To put up these types of video- game numbers is just absurdly impressive — even against the lesser version of the Suns without Booker and others.

“There’s a lot of season left. There’s a lot of games. You can get better or worse in that stretch. Our challenge is continuing to get better as we come down the stretch of the regular season,” Daigneault said. “But the guys have done a great job of that. It’s positioned us to play well.”

The Thunder’s next home game will be on the 20th and will play Brooklyn.

The game has a 7 p.m.

start time.

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