THUNDER WIRE - A winning machine on the floor, the only suspenseful parts of the SGA-less OKC’s visit to Utah happened during stoppages. The first two involved pyrotechnics going off at the top of the shot clock. The third happened less than a minute into the second half. As a shot clock and game clock malfunction caused a 15-minute delay.

The Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely embarrassed the Utah Jazz in a 131-101 win. They led by as many as 42 points.

“I thought great professionalism by the guys. Especially to start the game on both ends of the floor. Did a really good job defensively, making them earn everything. Moved the ball really well, generated good shots. Obviously, we a shot is very well,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I thought we created that to some extent. With the ones we were getting.”

Entering the one-game road trip, the Thunder were about as short-handed as they’ve been all season. It was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s first missed game as he deals with elbow bursitis. He joined Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe on the shelf.

Didn’t matter. Instead, it turned into the Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams show. The Thunder showed you early how skippable this game was. They opened with a 13-1 lead. Things only got uglier. They had a 45-20 lead after the first quarter. Branden Carlson showed out in front of friends and family with 11 points in two minutes. OKC made 11 3-pointers in the opening frame.

Things calmed down in the second quarter. But a 25-point deficit in the early stages is nearly impossible to climb out of. The Thunder scored 28 points in the frame. Holmgren caught an alley-oop as the shot clock sizzled out smoke from a game ops malfunction. They entered halftime with a 74-48 lead over the Jazz.

Considering the score, they probably could’ve played the second half on a running clock if allowed. And heck — considering how slow things went, they should’ve. Not even a full minute into the start, we had a delay. The shot clock and game clock stopped working. 15 minutes later, everybody conceded and restarted the game by going old school with the PA announcer verbally counting seconds down.

Overcoming the distractions, the Thunder continued to pile up on the Jazz. They scored 32 points in the third frame. Holmgren and Williams each had 25 points. Everybody knows how disorganized the Jazz are on the defensive end. But the offense coughed the ball up every other possession as they missed Lauri Markkanen.

The Thunder had a 106-71 lead over the Jazz after the third quarter. They cleared the bench — or as much as they could with just 11 players — in the final frame. They scored 25 points as Utah was able to pretty up the final score a little bit.

The Thunder shot 58% from the field and went 21-of-42 (50%) from 3. They shot 8-of-18 on free throws. They had 32 assists on 51 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Holmgren had an efficient 25 points and nine rebounds. Williams also had an efficient 25 points and eight assists. Aaron Wiggins had a quiet 19 points off the bench. Carlson finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Ousmane Dieng had 14 points. Kenrich Williams was busy with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Meanwhile, the Jazz shot 47% from the field and went 12-of-36 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 9-of-12 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 40 baskets. Four Jazz players scored double-digit points.

Kyle Filipowski had a 21-point and 10-rebound double-double. Walter Clayton Jr. had 20 points and nine assists. Taylor Hendricks scored 20 points. Ace Bailey finished with 13 points and four assists.

Well, this is about as impressive as it gets. The Thunder have normalized blowout wins to the point they’re numbing. You expect them most nights and it’s a surprise when they only win by single-digit points. But to go on the road to beat a Utah team that could reportedly be trade deadline buyers is on another level of impressiveness.

No adult supervision or babysitter this weekend for the Thunder. Instead of throwing a party, they cleaned the house and did their homework by keeping things business as usual in this lopsided contest over the Jazz. The win machine continues to roll along despite a new combination of parts every other day.

“I thought top to bottom tonight, the guys showed great team purpose,” Daigneault said. “It highlighted everybody’s skillset.”

Next up for the OKC Thunder is the Phoenix Suns on the 10th at home. The game is set to start at 6:30 p.m.

The game can be viewed on Prime Video and Fan-Duel Sports Network.

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