OKC Thunder rallies to beat Utah Jazz, stay unbeaten in NBA Cup play

The OKC Thunder continued its dominant start to the season with a 144-112 road win over the Utah Jazz on Friday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 31 points and eight assists in 30 minutes. He went 9 for 14 from the field (3 for 3 from deep).

OKC improved to 16-1 on the season and 2-0 in NBA Cup group play. Next up is a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the only team that has beaten the Thunder all season, at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

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The rim showed Utah some love in the first quarter

Kevin Love, with hair snowier than mountains in the Wasatch Range, is the old man of the Utah Jazz.

The 37-year-old forward is only about eight months younger than his head coach, Will Hardy. And he's more known for racking up likes on his viral Instagram posts than points at this stage in his illustrious career.

But Love turned back the clock midway through the first quarter, sinking three 3-pointers in a span of two minutes. And with a few seconds left in the opening frame, the 18-year vet heaved another deep bomb from the corner.

Gilgeous-Alexander tried to close out in time, but he watched as the ball splashed through the rim.

That ended a dominant opening quarter by Utah, which claimed a 44-30 lead on 15-for-23 shooting from the field (65%) and 8-for-13 shooting from deep (62%). It's the most points OKC's league-leading defense has allowed in any quarter all season.

Love led the way with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from deep in only seven minutes.

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OKC silenced Utah with a dominant third quarter

Jaylin Williams wears his big, toothy smile like it's part of his uniform. It's always on display, including midway through the third quarter of Friday's contest.

Kyle Filipowski had some words for Williams after they jostled for position down low, and yet OKC's 23-year-old big man didn't say much back. He just flashed his smile, almost as if he grew happier the angrier Filipowski got.

Williams then gave a true rebuttal with 1:36 left in the quarter. He drilled a 3-pointer over Filipowski, giving OKC a commanding 102-86 lead. And as he jogged back on defense, Williams could be seen grinning from ear to ear.

OKC let its play do the talking during the third quarter. It outscored Utah 43-20 and silenced a Delta Center crowd that was deafening earlier in the contest.

The Thunder held the Jazz to just 6-for-16 shooting from the field (37.5%) in the quarter, and it forced 10 turnovers. It even went on a 33-4 run at one point.

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Thunder claimed control of its NBA Cup group standings

The crowd at Delta Center went silent as OKC went on its dominant third-quarter run. But nearly 650 miles away, a commotion could be heard.

It came when Collin Gillespie sank a running jumper over Donte DiVincenzo in the closing seconds of Phoenix's home game against Minnesota, sealing a 114-113 win. And while sound only travels so far, the impact of that shot could still be felt in Salt Lake City.

Minnesota entered Friday with a 2-0 record in NBA Cup play, and it was in first place in Group A of the Western Conference. But with its loss to Phoenix and OKC's win over Utah, the Thunder is now in first place.

OKC (2-0) has a tiebreaker over Phoenix (2-0) due to point differential. It has won its games by 63 combined points, while the Suns have won by 23 points.

OKC will conclude group play with home games against Minnesota on Nov. 26 and Phoenix on Nov. 28. The top team from each of the six groups will advance to the knockout round in addition to one wild-card team from each conference.

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Tip-ins

• Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points in 89 consecutive regular-season games, which is the third-longest streak in NBA history. He trails Wilt Chamberlain, who had two streaks of 126 games and 92 games.

• Aaron Wiggins missed his eighth straight game due to a left adductor strain. OKC also continued to be without Thomas Sorber, Nikola Topić, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams, who have yet to play this season.

• Cason Wallace recorded four steals to go along with his 10 points. He's tied with Atlanta's Dyson Daniels for the most total steals (38) in the NBA this season.

Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder rallies to beat Jazz, stay unbeaten in NBA Cup group play