PHOENIX (AP) — Jalen Williams scored 28 points, Isaiah Joe added 21 and the hot-shooting Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 136-109 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Oklahoma City led by at least 20 points for the entire second half, pushing the advantage to 37 in the third. Williams shot 11 of 12 from the field and added five assists and four rebounds. Joe made 6 of 8 3-pointers.
Kenrich Williams added 15 points and Chet Holmgren had
13. The defending champion Thunder — who have won four of six — shot 58.4% from the field and got 74 points from players coming off the bench.
Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 23 points. Royce O'Neale and Jordan Goodwin both added 12.
The Thunder jumped to a 75-52 lead by halftime, shooting 11 of 18 (61.1%) from 3-point range. Joe came off the bench to lead the Thunder with 15 points before the break. Brooks led the Suns with 14.
Despite the lopsided loss, the Suns go into the All-Star break with a 32-23 record, which is much better than most anticipated after the franchise traded 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant to the Rockets during the summer.
Oklahoma City leads the NBA with a 42-13 record.
Both teams were missing important pieces Wednesday.
The Suns were without guards Devin Booker (ankle), Jalen Green (hamstring) and Grayson Allen (knee). Booker and Green recently came back from injuries and played on Tuesday in a win against the Mavericks, but coach Jordan Ott elected not to risk the their health on the second night of back-to-back games.
Thunder guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell both missed the game with abdominal strains. Gilgeous-Alexander — who missed his fourth straight game — is second in the league in scoring with 31.8 points per game.
Thunder: Host Milwaukee on Thursday night.
Suns: At San Antonio on Thursday, Feb. 19.
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