Washington Wizards @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Friday, February 23, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK | Game ID: 22300809
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 41 39 37 30 147WAS 28 29 24 25 106
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Thunder post their highest point total of the season in 147-106 win over Wizards
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Washington Wizards 147-106 on Friday night.
The Thunder moved into a tie atop the Western Conference standings with Minnesota at 39-17. The Timberwolves dropped a 112-107 home decision to Milwaukee on Friday.
Chet Holmgren added 25 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which shot 59.8% from the field and 50% from 3-point-range (20 of 40).
The Thunder had their highest point total of the season, eclipsing their 140 points in a win over San Antonio on Jan. 24.
“We knew the game plan, we executed it well and we really trusted each other,” Holmgren said. “That’s how we got those open looks, and credit to everybody who got ‘em and knocked ’em down.”
Oklahoma City led 80-57 at halftime and 117-81 after three quarters on a night the organization recognized 10 former players as part of Thunder Legacy Weekend.
“I think we’ve gotten good (looks) the last couple of nights,” said Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault, whose team made 17 3’s in a 129-106 win over the Clippers on Thursday. “And that’s what we can control. We just want to be a team that generates rhythm shots and open shots. I thought we did that tonight, we did that last night, we’ve done that for much of the year. We’ve gotten more open 3’s than most teams in the league, and if we do that we trust that we’re going to make enough of them ... .”
Jordan Poole scored 21 points off the bench and Corey Kispert added 20 points for Washington (9-47) which has lost 10 straight games.
“We had built some momentum going into the (All-Star) break,” said Washington coach Brian Keef, a former Thunder assistant. “I think we had two tough games versus two tough teams. We really didn’t finish the quarters well. The first three quarters they kind of made big runs in each quarter and that kind of extended the game. We have a long rest of the year and were going to get back to work and keep getting better.”
The Wizards dropped a 130-110 decision in Denver on Thursday night. Friday’s game was the second game of a back-to-back for both teams.
Oklahoma City scored 80 points in the first half and led by 23 points at the break. Gilgeous-Alexander (20) and Holmgren (19) combined for 39 points on 16-for-21 shooting. The Thunder shot 73.7% from the field and 71.4% from beyond the arc.
“He’s just refining on the offensive end of the floor,” Daigneault said of Holmgren. “He’s shooting his catch-and shoots with a lot of confidence right now, regardless of make or miss. He’s also getting his size into the game around the basket, especially against switches. That’s been an adjustment for him from a coverage standpoint.”
The lead ballooned to 39 points on a 3-pointer by Jaylin Williams early in the fourth quarter, when Daigneault, who turned 39 Friday, emptied his bench. A 3-pointer by Aaron Wiggins with 1:24 left — the team’s 20 from long range — made it 147-101.
A night after going scoreless in his Oklahoma City debut, Gordon Hayward finished with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes.
Kenrich Williams added 12 points on four 3-pointers, including three in a row during a stretch of the first quarter as the Thunder extended a 26-23 lead to 35-25.
WAS KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAF A. Flagler
AW A. Wiggins
BB B. Biyombo
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
GH G. Hayward
IJ I. Joe
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
JW Jay. Williams
KJ K. Johnson
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
WASAG A. Gill
BC B. Coulibaly
CK C. Kispert
EO E. Omoruyi
JB J. Butler
JC J. Champagnie
JD J. Davis
JP J. Poole
KK K. Kuzma
LS L. Shamet
MB M. Bagley III
PB P. Baldwin Jr.
TJ T. Jones
OKC/WAS the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur