OKC Thunder Silences Utah Jazz by 34 Points

In its penultimate regular season game, the Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 67-14 with a wire-to-wire 145-111 win over the Utah Jazz. The Thunder tied a franchise-record 41 assists and scored its second-most points of the season.

Oklahoma City sat most rotation players, as it had already secured the Western Conference's No. 1 seed and NBA's best overall record.

Isaiah Joe racked up a career-high 10 3-pointers on 14 attempts. He recorded 32 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two steals and a game-high +33 plus-minus.

Aaron Wiggins led all scorers with 35 points on 14-for-24 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Jaylin Williams recorded a triple-double in his third straight start, putting up 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, a steal and a block.

Kenrich Williams tallied 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Adam Flagler scored a career-high 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Ajay Mitchell played in his first game since Jan. 3 due to a right big toe sprain. He checked in to start the second quarter and converted a running floater two minutes later. Mitchell registered nine points, five assists and a steal.

The Thunder started Wiggins, Joe, Dillon Jones, Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams.

The Jazz started Keyonte George, Jaden Springer, Johnny Juzang, Brice Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski.

Wiggins swished a right corner 3-pointer from Jones on the game's first possession, a sign of things to come for the rest of the quarter. Oklahoma City scored on eight of its first 10 trips, including two Joe threes, as a Jaylin Williams triple gave the Thunder 22 points before Utah's first timeout.

Filipowski put the Jazz on the board with a paint jumper — the home team grabbed three offensive rebounds on its first three possessions. The second-round rookie drilled a 3-pointer and threw down an alley-oop from George to keep Utah competitive midway through the frame. Juzang drained back-to-back corner triples in the opening minutes.

Wiggins scored on three straight Thunder possessions from 5:46 to 4:55, reaching 12 points on Jaylin Williams' fifth assist. Joe reached double-digits on a step-back mid-range jumper with 2:17 left in the quarter. Adam Flagler converted consecutive 3-pointers to give Oklahoma City a 46-34 lead after 12 minutes, tying the team's most points in a single quarter all season.

Mitchell's floater was the Thunder's only score on its first seven second-quarter trips, as the game tightened up for both teams. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk registered his fourth jumper at the 8:44 mark to bring the Jazz within two possessions, but Wiggins splashed another triple and made a layup to reach 19 points five minutes into the quarter.

Branden Carlson threw down a dunk from Kenrich Williams, who tipped in a Mitchell miss on the following possession — giving Oklahoma City a 14-point lead with 4:42 remaining before halftime. Flagler reached double-digits on a contested pull-up jumper. Joe drilled two more threes in the final two minutes, including a 26-footer at the buzzer, as the Thunder maintained a 73-58 advantage at the break.

The Thunder scored 34 third-quarter points on 13-for-24 shooting, making eight paint shots and five 3-pointers. Jaylin Williams slammed a self alley-oop off the backboard with 1:23 left, putting Oklahoma City into triple-digits. The Thunder scored on its final five third-quarter possessions and led 107-86 going into the fourth quarter.

Oklahoma City plays its final regular season game in New Orleans against the Pelicans this Sunday, April 13 at 2:30 p.m. CST.