OKLAHOMA CITY — Left wide open on a scramble drill, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added to the late barrage with a calculated catch-and-shoot look. The outside bucket helped him cross the 30-point mark as he enjoyed another rested fourth quarter. It took longer than needed, but OKC pulled away late.

The Oklahoma City Thunder collected a 127108 win over the Washington Wizards. After playing with their food a little bit, the short-handed NBA champion finally put away the rebuilding situation.

“We stuck with it. Obviously, they made a couple of pushes. I thought the start of the fourth quarter was really good. A really good tone defensively with a couple of deflections and then good execution on offense. I thought the offense all night was really good, to be honest with you,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I thought we generated really good shots. Move the ball very well ahead of the defense. Didn’t shoot it great. We had a little flurry there at the end. Despite that, I thought we played with great intentions.”

The final score might suggest the Thunder were in firm control for the entire night, but don’t let it fool you. For the first three quarters, the Wizards

kept it respectable and hovered around a 10-point deficit. That’s all you can really ask for from their side of things.

Points came quickly at the start. The Thunder had a 28-20 lead after the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander had a couple of and-one opportunities after a free-throw drought. The second frame saw both teams go back and forth. Isaiah Joe’s outside shooting was dearly missed. Bilal Coulibaly became Washington’s top scorer.

The Thunder entered halftime with a 59-49 lead. Like the theme for most of the season — a decent advantage, but could probably be a little bit more if they enjoyed better shooting luck. Nonetheless, OKC was at a good spot to get this gimme win.

Instead, the Wizards got back into it. The Thunder couldn’t buy outside makes. Each missed attempt caused louder groans from the OKC crowd. After Marvin Bagley III caught an alleyoop to cut OKC’s lead to 83-81 with under two minutes left in the third frame, nervousness filled the air.

Then the Thunder finally enjoyed some positive regression from deep. A handful of outside makes tallied 33 points in the third quarter. They had a 92-84 lead. That score would suggest another much-needed closeout job by Gilgeous-Alexander. Instead, the reigning MVP surprisingly sat out the rest of the game.

The Thunder bench lineup took care of business. Aaron Wiggins threw it up to Isaiah Hartenstein for the alleyoop. Ajay Mitchell became the go-to scorer. That put OKC up 101-86 with eight minutes left. They eventually led by as many as 24 points. Both teams slowly cleared their benches. OKC had 35 points in the fourth frame to pretty up the final score.

The Thunder shot 45% from the field and went 16-of-49 (32.7%) from 3. They shot 23-of-28 on free throws. They had 29 assists on 44 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 31 points in just three quarters. Mitchell and Joe each had 20 points apiece. Hartenstein finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Cason Wallace had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.

Meanwhile, the Wizards shot 45% from the field and went 17-of-40 (42.5%) from 3. They shot 15-of-17 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 38 baskets. Five Wizards players scored double-digit points. CJ McCollum scored 19 points. Coulibaly finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Alex Sarr had 14 points and eight rebounds. Kyshawn George tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Tre Johnson had 10 points off the bench.

It took a little longer than usual, but the Thunder eventually pulled away. Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t need to jam on the speed pedal against a bottom-feeder. It was positive to see Mitchell and Joe lead the bench lineup to close this one out. Credit the Wizards, they kept it entertaining for the first three quarters, but their youth and lack of talent showed late in the second half.

“I thought the last two games, certainly tonight, we took a major step in the right direction of just a collective awareness of the type of shot we wanted to get and looking for it every single time,” Daigneault said. “I thought we had a number of possessions where we passed up average shots to find a good or great one. We still didn’t shoot it great tonight, but were able to open the game up and score a lot of points despite that because of how we play.”