Thunder take no. 1 spot in West, spoil Jusuf Nurkic's 31-rebound outing for Suns

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 points) and Jalen Williams (24 points) stepped up for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their victory against the Phoenix Suns, 118-110, which allowed them to take the no. 1 spot in the loaded Western Conference Monday (PHL).

SGA put on a scoring clinic down the stretch in the Thunder's win over the Suns ??

35 PTS | 9 AST | 8 REB | 3 STL pic.twitter.com/b6Fq6OOXrl

— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2024

The Thunder pulled through for the win against the Suns 🔥

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 35 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST
Jalen Williams: 22 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST

Bradley Beal: 31 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST pic.twitter.com/nRhoF6vdDu

— Thunder Nation (@ThunderNationCP) March 4, 2024

All five Oklahoma City starters were in double figures, with Chet Holmgren scoring 14, Lu Dort adding 13, and Josh Giddey finishing with 10. Gilgeous-Alexander also had eight rebounds and nine assists.

Jusuf Nurkic broke the Suns' franchise record with 31 rebounds, the most in an NBA game in 14 years. He also had 14 points, but the Suns couldn't buck the absence of star guard Devin Booker, who missed the game after he sprained his right ankle late in a loss to Houston on Saturday night.

Phoenix got off to a quick start, taking a 10-2 lead, and continued an extremely impressive defensive effort throughout the remainder of the quarter. But OKC parlayed the momentum they started late in the first quarter en route to a double-digit lead of 66-52 at halftime. 

Phoenix rebounded and took a 96-90 lead early in the fourth, though the Thunder eventually regained control and forced the Suns into a few awful possessions that included tough shots and more turnovers.

Williams' mid-range bucket at the 2:00 mark put the Thunder up 117-108 and essentially put the game on ice for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder won despite shooting a poor 9-31 from downtown. Phoenix turned the ball over 22 times during the loss. Bradley Beal scored 31 points for Phoenix. Ejected Saturday night for a scuffle with Houston's Jalen Green, Beal played 33 minutes in his second game back from a strained hamstring. Kevin Durant added 20 points, and Eric Gordon had 15 after missing three games because of a groin injury.

OKC improved to 42-18 for a half-game lead over The Minnesota Timberwolves, who lost by one points to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns dropped to 35-26 for seventh place.