Jordi Fernandez knew he was faced with an impossible task when he arrived at Paycom Center on Sunday.
The Brooklyn head coach bore the burden of containing OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who he got plenty familiar with last summer when he coached Canada’s men’s basketball team during its Paris Olympics run.
Fernandez saw the way Gilgeous-Alexander worked on a daily basis. He saw the way the star guard broke down his opponent with a ruthlessness that contradicted Canada’s nice-guy stereotype. And, most importantly, he saw the way Gilgeous-Alexander refused to let that same thing be done to him.
“You can’t break him, and that makes him special,” Fernandez said before the game. “His size. His handle. His shooting. It’s everything.”
Fernandez saw that once again Sunday.
OKC routed Brooklyn 127-101 thanks to the strong play of Gilgeous-Alexander, who returned after missing the team’s road loss to Dallas on Friday with a sprained right wrist. He finished with 27 points and 10 assists, and he showed the same brilliance that drew Fernandez’s admiration last summer.
Gilgeous-Alexander pushed the ball up the floor throughout the night. He got to the free-throw line at will, making all 10 of his attempts. He dropped dimes with ease to record his fourth double-double of the season.
And he did it all in only three quarters. Gilgeous-Alexander watched the final frame from the bench as OKC cruised to victory and improved to 35-7 on the season.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
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Isaiah Joe steps up as second scoring option
As Jaylin Williams battled for an offensive rebound midway through the first quarter, he back-tapped the ball without a specific recipient in mind.
It just so happened to find the perfect guy.
The loose ball went directly toward Isaiah Joe, who’d already drilled two 3-pointers on two tries. And after taking one dribble, the sharpshooter released another deep ball that found the bottom of the net.
Joe provided a consistent scoring punch for the Thunder. He finished with 24 points on 8-for-10 shooting from deep.
The only thing that could stop Joe was the whistle. He picked up his third foul in a span of 37 seconds midway through the third quarter, giving him five on the night, and he played 22 minutes as a result.
Still, Joe’s strong outing came on the perfect night for an OKC team that needed to replace Jalen Williams’ scoring production. Williams is averaging 20.6 points, but he missed his first game of the season Sunday due to a right hip strain.
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Branden Carlson continues to impress on 10-day contract
Athletes are often told to play like today could be their last day. It’s a cliché phrase, like many others in the sports world.
But there was some truth to it Sunday for Carlson, whose 10-day contract with OKC ends Monday.
OKC’s game against Brooklyn marked Carlson’s final opportunity to leave a strong impression on the front office, which can bring him back on one more 10-day deal before it must either sign him for the rest of the season or release him.
And Carlson made the most of it. The undrafted rookie out of Utah finished with eight points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 18 minutes.
OKC acquired Carlson on a one-year, standard NBA deal on Nov. 16. It then briefly released him in early January before it signed him to a 10-day contract on Jan. 10. He has averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.2 minutes throughout six games since then.
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OKC shares the wealth in its blowout victory
Aaron Wiggins isn’t one to shy away from a challenge at the rim.
But he also welcomes an opportunity to find his teammate for a bucket, and that’s what he did midway through the fourth quarter. With only one defender in front of him on a fastbreak, the savvy guard threw a lob to Ousmane Dieng for an easy finish.
That was one of 37 assists for OKC, which ranked 15th in the NBA in assists per game (26) entering Sunday.
Thunder vs. Jazz
TIPOFF: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Paycom Center (FanDuel Sports Network)
