SALT LAKE CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Oklahoma City had a 33-4 run and the defending champion Thunder routed the Utah Jazz 144-112 on Friday night in NBA Cup play to improve to 16-1 and push their winning streak to eight.
The Thunder trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half; their 32-point win was the largest by any team that trailed by 15 or more points in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98).
It was also Oklahoma City’s second-largest comeback win this season, after it trailed the Memphis Grizzlies by 19 points Nov. 9. The Thunder improved to 5-0 when trailing by double digits, the only team without a loss in such games.
Gilgeous-Alexander was shooting less than 27% on 3-pointers after seven games but has made half his long-range shots since then and all three attempts from beyond the arc against Utah to go along with 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 from the line.
Gilgeous-Alexander now has 30-plus points in 14 of his first 17 games, the most by any player in his team’s first 17 games of a season since Michael Jordan in 1986-87.
Isaiah Joe scored 16 points, and Jaylin Williams made 5 3s for a season-high 15 points for Oklahoma City. The Thunder — 2-0 in the NBA Cup — shot 61.4% from the field and a season-best 62.2% on 3s, making 23 of 37.
Keyonte George scored 20 points, and Lauri Markkanen added 19 for Utah. The Jazz are 5-10 overall and 0-3 in tournament play.
The Thunder forced 28 turnovers and turned them into 44 points, disrupting the Jazz’s sets and visibly frustrating Utah’s players.
Utah led 84-77 before the Thunder finished the third quarter on the 33-4 run, including 22 points in a row. Oklahoma City is the league’s best third-quarter team and showed it by forcing nine turnovers with suffocating pressure defense while shooting 9 for 13 from 3-point range.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 as OKC outscored Utah 43-20 in the period. Incredibly, Utah led by 18 points (39-21) before OKC led by 36 late in the game.
The Jazz scored 44 points in the first quarter, more than any team has tallied in any quarter against the Thunder this season, to lead 44-30. That 14-point deficit after the first quarter tied the largest by a team that went on to win by 30-plus points in NBA history.
The Jazz led the entire first half, but the Thunder closed to 68-67. Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault was assessed a technical foul arguing a non-call at the halftime buzzer.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
