Thunder move closer to play-in spot, eliminate shorthanded Jazz

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points to help the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder snap a three-game losing streak in a 114-98 victory over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 6 (Friday, April 7, Manila time).

The result eliminated the shorthanded Jazz (36-44) from postseason contention and pushed OKC (39-42) one step closer to clinching a spot in the play-in tournament heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

Josh Giddey contributed 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists for the Thunder. Eight OKC players scored at least nine points in the road win.

The Thunder will clinch a spot in the play-in with a win against Memphis on Sunday.

Kris Dunn finished with 22 points, 8 assists, and 7 boards, while Kelly Olynyk totaled 16 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists to pace the Jazz.

Utah, playing without four starters, nearly overcame an early 16-point deficit but couldn’t overtake the Thunder in the third quarter after coming within a point on five different occasions.

OKC stormed out to its largest lead of 18 early in the fourth quarter by opening on a 10-0 run, capped by a Dario Saric triple with 10:31 remaining. Saric had 14 points and 10 rebounds with 2 blocks.

Utah responded with 7 straight points by Johnny Juzang to make it an 11-point game, but that was the Jazz’s last push.

Isaiah Joe gave the Thunder a 45-29 lead by capping a 10-0 run with two free throws and a three-pointer in the second quarter.

Utah held OKC to one basket in the final 3:58 of the first half while using a 14-2 scoring burst to narrow the gap to 3 points, 55-52, by the break.

After fending off the Jazz’s comeback attempts, the Thunder stretched their lead to 84-76 going into the final period.

Oklahoma City won despite only shooting 40.2% from the field. The big difference came beyond the arc, where the Thunder hit 15 of 45 threes compared to a rough 5-for-31 three-point-shooting night for Utah. – Rappler.com