OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder exorcised their demons in a 153-121 blowout win against the Houston Rockets.
In Wednesday’s meeting between the two teams, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault made it a point of emphasis to talk about how the Rockets were ready from the jump and that led to their upset win.
That wasn’t the case Saturday.
The Thunder opened with an 8-2 a little over 90 seconds into the game. Following that quick burst, the Thunder coasted the rest of the way to their most dominating win of the season with a lead as large as 45 points — the largest of the season.
The Thunder had one of their best offensive nights in franchise history as they scored a franchise-record 153 points in regulation. The Thunder scored 123 points in just three quarters.
This is the second time this season that the Thunder passed the 150-point threshold, the first time being against the Boston Celtics last month. On Saturday, the Thunder enjoyed back-to-back 40-plus point quarters in the second and third quarters to help them achieve this mark.
“Credit to our players. We knew the type of mentality that we wanted to bring to the game. I thought we really imposed ourselves onto the game early,” Daigneault said. “…We built (our lead) with a pretty bloodthirsty mentality tonight.”
In his first game since being named an All-Star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played like an All-NBA candidate with 20 first-quarter points and 28 first-half points. By the end of the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander flirted with a 50-piece with 42 points.
Due to a 42-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed the final 12 minutes of the game resting on the bench.
The Thunder shot 56-of-97 (57.7%) from the field and went 21-of-46 (45.7%) from 3. The Thunder dished out 39 team assists. All 11 players for the Thunder scored.
Meanwhile, the Rockets struggled from outside, going just 10-of-30 (33.3%) from 3. Overall, they shot 45-of-89 (50.6%) from the field.
In terms of individual performances for the Rockets, there’s not much to write home about.
Jalen Green made his return after a three-game absence and finished with 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 11 points. Alperen Sengun finished with 10 points and four rebounds and was in constant foul trouble with four first-half fouls.
The leading scorers for the Rockets came off the bench as TyTy Washington Jr. and Josh Christopher each had 20 points.
“It’s important to have a game like this whenever you can,” Daigneault said. “When you answer the ball, respond to the challenges of competition. I thought we kind of declared ourselves to ourselves tonight.”
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades as they pick up their first win against the Rockets this season and just their second in the last seven tries.