Thunder 130-106 Grizzlies (December 29, 2024) Game Recap

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their 11th straight game, defeating the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies 130-106 on Sunday night in a matchup of the Western Conference leaders that went before halftime became one-sided.

Rookie Ajay Mitchell scored 17 points, Aaron Wiggins contributed 16 and Jalen Williams added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder (26-5), which opened a five-game lead over second-place Memphis.

Gilgeous-Alexander made 14 of 19 shots to go along with seven assists, six rebounds and a team-high four blocks. He sat there for most of the fourth quarter. Oklahoma City blocked nine shots, including three from center Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Thunder led 76-50 at halftime behind 23 points from Gilgeous-Alexander and 12 each from Mitchell and Kenrich Williams, who combined to go 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. Oklahoma City outscored the Grizzlies 42-19 in the second quarter and took control.

Desmond Bane had 22 points and nine rebounds for Memphis (22-11), which played without star Ja Morant (shoulder) and Zach Edey, the team’s No. 9 draft pick, who was in the concussion protocol. Jay Huff added 17 points, but Jaren Jackson Jr., the team’s leading scorer at 21.9 points per game, managed 13 points on 3 of 17 shooting.

Takeaways

Grizzlies: Memphis jumped out to a 9-0 lead but struggled to score after that, making 37 of 97 shots from the field (38.1%) and 14 of 51 from 3-point range (27.5). %) were submitted.

Thunder: Oklahoma City lost the rebounding battle 51-46 but outscored the Grizzlies 56-36.

Key moment

Memphis got within 42-36 after a jumper from Jackson, but Oklahoma City extended the lead to 74-45 with a 32-9 run and put the game out of reach before halftime.

Key statistics

Oklahoma City turned 21 Memphis turnovers into 33 points.

Next

Grizzlies: Visit Phoenix on Tuesday night.

Thunder: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba