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OKLAHOMA CITY — At this point, it's inevitable. Believing in false hope, Indiana's faint chances to be the second team from the East to beat OKC were quickly erased away. A signature third-quarter avalanche filled with defensive disruptions and a run-and-gun offense turned this into another snoozer.
The Oklahoma City Thunder enjoyed a 132-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. The former's win streak has reached nine in a row despite their center room being nearly extinct in the second half due to hip injuries.
After a slow start on offense, the Thunder woke up to end the first quarter with a 29-27 lead. The opening six minutes were the most adversity they faced — and most of it was self-inflicted as they woke up to rub the eye boogers off. That continued in the second frame with 32 points to enter halftime with a 61-49 advantage.
Like most games, the Thunder waited until the second half to take this contest seriously. It's become a tradition that they throw their best punch in the third quarter and that happened again. A 17-6 run to end the period pushed their lead to over 20 points.
Fresh off a franchise-best 162 points, the Pacers succumbed to the Thunder's league-best defense. Quality looks were seldom produced and plenty of passes were intercepted. Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe took turns on the other end one-upping each other from the outside. They entered the fourth quarter with a 102-80 lead after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander beat the buzzer with a tip shot.
The Thunder's lead hovered around 20 points the rest of the way. Leading by as many as 25 points, it became a classic stat-padding time for Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the starters. The Pacers waved the white flag with around five minutes left and the Thunder did the same afterward.
The Thunder shot 51% from the field and went 17-of-36 (47.2%) from 3. They shot 19-of-23 on free throws. They had 26 assists on 48 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with an efficient 33 points. Jalen Williams had 18 points and six assists. Dort scored 22 points and Joe scored 19 points mostly from hot outside shooting. Cason Wallace had 14 points in the start and Kenrich Williams tallied 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 45% from the field and went 14-of-42 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 19-of-26 on free throws. They had 27 assists on 39 baskets. Seven Pacers players scored double-digit points.
Tyrese Haliburton was limited to 18 points and three assists. Andrew Nembhard only had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Pascal Siakam was shut down with just 11 points and nine rebounds. Same can be said about Myles Turner's 11 points and five rebounds.
Beating up on an upper one-third team in the league fresh off an offensive explosion would be most contenders' prime candidate for the best win of the season. For the Thunder, it was just another day in the office. They inch closer to another historic marker of being the only team in history to have only one loss to the opposing conference throughout the season. That's about all the drama left for the regular season with the first seed already locked up.
Let's look at Thunder player grades:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
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Before the game even started, Gilgeous-Alexander was showered with MVP chants. It's the first time the 26-year-old has received them this season this early before he circled the crowd at this pregame warmup to sign fans' jerseys and momentos.
Add this dominant outing and blowout against a top-10 squad to his bulletproof resume. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points on 10-of-23 shooting, eight assists and seven rebounds. He shot 3-of-6 from 3 and went 10-of-12 on free throws.
It was a vintage Gilgeous-Alexander outing with a sprinkle of his outside shot. The drive-heavy scorer kept attacking the paint and was rewarded with easy looks around the rim or a trip to the free-throw line. Like the other 28 teams in the NBA, the Pacers had no answers to containing the MVP candidate.
Gilgeous-Alexander slept walk through 22 points in three quarters. With the game already decided, he crossed the 30-point mark in the fourth quarter. It was another ho-hum outing for him where he led the Thunder to a blowout win. Just copy and paste his grade from most of their wins this season onto here.
it Jalen Williams: B
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Receiving the ball at halfcourt, Williams barreled his way to the basket and took on multiple Pacers defenders to get the transition bucket. The 23-year-old returned to his groove as a drive-heavy scorer against Indiana's nonexistent paint protection.
Williams finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, six assists and two rebounds. He shot 0-of-2 from 3 and went 4-of-5 on free throws.
Usually taking over in the fourth quarter, Williams bumped his scoring dominance to the third frame. He helped put this out of reach early and was rewarded with a short night. With Isaiah Hartenstein ruled out of the second half with hip soreness, the Thunder morphed into a small-ball squad with him back at center.
The Thunder scored points in a flurry and Williams helped with that. He wasn't needed to be the second-best scorer. Instead, he played within the flow and got plenty of good looks.
Lu Dort: A-plus
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Receiving the ball at the perimeter, the usually-eager Dort threw up a pump fake that Siakam bit for. He side-stepped to the top of the key and swished in another outside look. The 25-year-old felt himself in another hot game from deep.
Dort finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and five rebounds. He shot 6-of-7 from 3. He also had two steals and a block.
Always reliable on defense, if the offense gets going like it did against the Pacers, Dort can completely flip a game. He's enjoyed a career season from the outside. He's become a reliable catch-and-shoot threat who benefits from his All-Star teammates' gravity when opposing defenses collapse.
On the flip side, Haliburton was a no-show. Add him to the growing list of All-Star-esque players who get shut out against the Thunder. They've only allowed a handful of 30-point scorers this season and everybody attributes that back to Dort.
Isaiah Joe: A-plus
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Receiving a behind-the-back pass from Williams, Joe knocked down a deep outside look to push the Thunder's lead to 20 points. The third-quarter dagger capped off another monster run to put this one away and make the final frame drama-less.
Joe finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and five rebounds. He shot 5-of-7 from 3 in 27 minutes off the bench.
Several Thunder role players have had their best stretch of the season in recent weeks. That's great news as the title contender hopes that translates to the playoffs with it being right around the corner. For Joe, that's him splashing in his outside looks.
If Joe gets hot like this, he can completely change the outcome of a game. It's happened a handful of times this season and his explosion against the Pacers turned this from a back-and-forth contest into another boring blowout.
Cason Wallace: B-plus
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After Dort fought off Nembhard for the loose ball, Alex Caruso played middleman as he quickly gave it to Wallace. The transition opportunity turned into a fastbreak dunk that caused the loudest reaction from the OKC crowd.
Wallace finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, three assists and two rebounds. He shot 2-of-4 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws.
A team filled with versatile players, Wallace might be the ultimate Swiss Army knife. He's a seamless fit with the starters and off the bench. His growth as a driver paired with his outside shot has turned him into a valuable tool that can fit with any other four-player combination.
A play you have to see: All-out defenseAll-out slam @OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/qNbGZsKpXn
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2025
Highlights:
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder closer to history with 132-111 win over Pacers
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