Thunder cruise past Suns again but lose Jalen Williams

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and dished out ‌‌nine assists, leading Oklahoma City to a 120-107 home win over the Phoenix Suns and giving the ⁠⁠Thunder a 2-0 lead in ⁠⁠a first-round Western Conference playoff series.

The victory on Wednesday, however, might have been a costly one for the hosts.

Thunder player Jalen Williams, who was limited to just 33 games during the regular season due to injuries, left the ⁠⁠game midway through the third quarter due to a left hamstring injury.

“We’ll take a look at it in the next couple of days, and we’ll update you guys appropriately,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said of Williams’ status post-game.

Williams pulled up during ⁠⁠a drive towards the bucket and then grabbed at his hamstring as action went the other way.

Williams, who did not return, missed two long stretches of the season with injuries to his right wrist and right hamstring.

Before getting hurt, Williams was excellent, logging 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and four assists in 23 minutes.

Oklahoma City seized control in the third quarter, thanks in large ‌‌part to Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren.

Holmgren grabbed rebounds on each of the first three possessions of the half and had 11 points and three blocks in the quarter, while Gilgeous-Alexander had 12 points and four assists in the period.

Holmgren finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

The Thunder stretched their lead to 23 with a 13-2 run to end the third and then to 26 early in the fourth.

The Suns cut the deficit to 10 with nearly four minutes remaining, but coming out of a timeout, Ajay Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to stretch the gap ⁠⁠to 113-100.

“We did a really good job building the lead that we did in the ⁠⁠third heading into the fourth,” Daigneault said. “Obviously the fourth was a little wacky. We’ll watch that … But generally, it was a good one. We built a strong lead and were able to hold it.”

Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth.

After a slow start in ⁠⁠Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander missed his first three shots on Wednesday, then found the range. He hit 7 of 10 shots the rest of the first half.

After going 5 of 18 from ⁠⁠the field in the series opener, Gilgeous-Alexander finished 13 of 25 in Game ⁠⁠2.

“Shai made the right play all night,” Daigneault said. “His floor game was outstanding. He got us really good shots.”

Early in the third quarter, Brooks and Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort got tangled up battling for a potential rebound off a free throw. The two quickly stepped away from each other, but each ‌‌was whistled for a technical foul.

Late in the quarter, Devin Booker was called for a technical after bouncing the ball off Williams while trying to keep it in play.

“This is a playoff series so a lot of stuff happens,” ‌‌said ‌‌Suns coach Jordan Ott, who added that he did not get an explanation of the call. “We can do a better job keeping our composure at times.”

Booker finished with 22 points, while Jalen Green had 21 in the loss.

Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday in Phoenix.