Field Level Media
Apr 6, 2022
Bojan Bogdanovic topped all scorers with 27 points as the Utah Jazz cruised to a 137-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
Rudy Gobert, Jordan Clarkson and Hassan Whiteside each contributed double-doubles for the Jazz, who clinched a Western Conference playoff spot on Tuesday.
Fifth-place Utah (48-32), which has games left vs. the Phoenix Suns on Friday and at the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, is a game ahead of the sixth-place Denver Nuggets (47-33) and two games behind the fourth-place Dallas Mavericks (50-30).
Gobert finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Whiteside, his backup, added 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Clarkson chipped in 18 points and 10 assists, fill-in starter Danuel House Jr. had 14 points and Rudy Gay contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.
Jaylen Hoard, on a 10-day contract, led Oklahoma City (24-56) with 23 points. Isaiah Roby and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl each scored 18 as the Thunder saw their two-game winning streak end.
Utah, which has won three of four games, ended with 10 blocked shots and held the Thunder to 41.1 percent shooting. The Jazz shot a sizzling 58.3 percent, including 15-for-36 (41.7 percent) from 3-point range.
The Jazz played without regular starters Donovan Mitchell (rest), Mike Conley (load management) and Royce O'Neale (thumb).
Oklahoma City's five leading scorers are all sidelined due to injuries, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) and Luguentz Dort (shoulder).
Utah went up by 15 points in the second quarter after holding a 41-31 lead at the end of the first quarter. As has been their pattern, the Jazz saw that big lead dwindle down to two points after an 18-5 surge by the Thunder.
The Jazz responded with a 16-5 run and took a 71-58 lead into halftime.
Utah dominated the second half, building a lead as large as 41 points.
--Field Level Media