OKC Thunder defeats Magic 102-86 on defense

The Oklahoma City Thunder moved to 7-0 with a 102-86 home win against the Orlando Magic.

The Thunder won their seventh straight and opened the season with at least 12 or more points, extending their NBA record. Her 86 points allowed are a new season low.

Jalen Williams scored 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including three 3-pointers, three steals and four rebounds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted 21 points, nine assists, six rebounds and a game-high +20 plus-minus despite committing a season-high four turnovers.

Chet Holmgren scored 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. He did not return after being checked out with 4:53 left in the third quarter. Magic center Goga Bitadze was fouled on the drive to the basket and landed on his body, and the Thunder sophomore landed awkwardly on his back after a putback dunk.

Cason Wallace made his third start of the season, joining Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Williams and Luguentz Dort.

Without injured starters Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr., the Magic started their fourth different group of the year: Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tristan da Silva, Franz Wagner and Bitadze.

Oklahoma City put together its best offensive quarter of the year early in the game, scoring 39 points on 15 of 21 (71.4%) shooting in the first quarter. They made six 3-pointers on 10 attempts, with five different players making at least one three-pointer.

Williams scored 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the first frame, with all six makes coming from different spots on the court. His left-wing three-pointer off a Gilgeous Alexander feed — one of the All-Star's seven assists in the quarter — and layup gave the Thunder a quick 5-0 lead that they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the night.

Thunder rookie Dillon Jones, who was inserted as backup center with four minutes left in the quarter, pressured Magic forward Jonathan Isaac on an offensive rebound attempt and made a layup. Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso converted three points from a wide-open corner to give the team a 39-26 lead after 12 minutes.

A Williams triple ended an 1:11 stretch in the second quarter in which the Thunder committed three turnovers. Orlando took advantage with an 8-0 run to bring the game to within 10 points, including six points from center Mo Wagner, but couldn't get the lead closer due to terrible outside shooting – they shot from deep 1:17 into the first Halftime despite several great performances.

Both teams combined to shoot 14-for-46 in the second frame, with all seven Magic field goals coming inside the restricted area. Oklahoma City didn't record a single attempt in that period until Williams hit Holmgren for an open dunk 33 seconds before halftime. The Thunder led 58-43 at halftime.

Wallace tracked down Caldwell-Pope on what appeared to be a wide-open layup and forced a miss at the front rim. He then knocked down a turnaround jumper to give Oklahoma City a 17-point lead. Gilgeous-Alexander achieved a double-digit score with two consecutive jumps.

Isaiah Joe, who shot 14-for-34 (41.2%) from downtown on the night this season, hit three straight three-pointers between 2:19 and 1:15 to extend the Thunder's lead to 24 points. Oklahoma City led 84-58 after three quarters, forcing seven Magic turnovers and allowing 4-for-21 shooting in the period.

The Thunder will play their second road game against the Nuggets on November 6th at 8:00 p.m. CST. Oklahoma City is 1-0 in the season series and won the season opener 102-87.

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