Gilgeous-Alexander Scores 30 in Three Quarters as Thunder Throttle Wizards 114-75

There was a moment, late in the first quarter, when this game still looked like a contest. Washington led 16-15, the Paycom Center crowd was still finding its voice, and the Wizards had every reason to believe they could hang around. Then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a step-back jumper, attacked the basket for a layup, and Oklahoma City ripped off a 10-3 run to close the quarter. The Wizards never led again. They barely threatened again, either.

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Gilgeous-Alexander was sitting on the bench in his warmups, watching his teammates finish the job. It was the second night in a row he had been able to take the entire final period off, and that tells you everything about how this one went. The Thunder won 114-75, and the scoreline flatters Washington.

The numbers from the visitors' side are grim enough to read twice. Seventy-five points, the fewest Washington has managed in a game since the 2017-18 season. Twenty-nine point six percent from the field, their worst shooting night since December 2017. Oklahoma City's defense set the tone from the opening tip and never let up, and by the time the Wizards briefly cut the deficit to 14 early in the third quarter, the Thunder answered with a 10-2 burst — six of the points from Gilgeous-Alexander — and the game was done for good.

What makes this run of form remarkable is who is missing. Oklahoma City has been without Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace since all three went down with long-term injuries in the same game on October 25. The Thunder are 5-2 since then, 8-2 overall, and have now won four straight. The depth that was supposed to be tested has instead become the story of the season so far.

Jared McCain scored 19 points off the bench, and the second quarter belonged to the reserves. With Gilgeous-Alexander resting, Ajay Mitchell and McCain combined for Oklahoma City's first 16 points of the period as part of a 16-4 surge that stretched the lead to 18. Rookie Aday Mara, making just his second start, finished with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Isaiah Hartenstein pulled down 14 boards. This was not a one-man show. It was a roster doing its job.

Washington, meanwhile, keeps finding new ways to hurt. DeAndre Ayton left late in the second quarter with a lower-leg injury and did not return. Anthony Davis, the Wizards' leading scorer at 23.4 points a game, sat out with an ankle injury. AJ Dybantsa led them with 19 points, but the night belonged to the other storyline in the building: Trae Young, playing his first game in his home state since being traded to Washington last season, managed just four points on 1-of-6 shooting.

The Thunder have now won nine consecutive meetings between these teams, and the gap between them has rarely looked wider. Oklahoma City keeps winning without three starters. Washington keeps losing, three straight now and five of its last seven, and the road does not get any easier from here.