Australians in the NBA - Giddey stars as Thunder bounce back

Josh Giddey has scored 20 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder bounce back from two straight NBA losses in Los Angeles with a 134-129 win over the Utah Jazz.

Australian Giddey also had 10 rebounds and six assists, while All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 31 points as the Thunder ended the Jazz's six-game winning streak in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.

The victory lifted the youthful Thunder's season record to 28-13 as they sit comfortably in second place in the western conference behind the Minnesota Timberwolves.    

The Thunder were boosted by the continued sharp form of Jalen Williams who had 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter.

Williams, who shot 11 of 14, made four 3-pointers and has scored at least 25 points in three consecutive games. 

"We're not feeling 100% and yet really competed for 48 minutes together on both ends against the hottest team in the league coming in," Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. 

"We probably didn't have a fastball physically, but we had our fastball mentally and competitively."

Oklahoma City, who never trailed, shot a blistering 55.8 per cent overall - 43.8 per cent (14-for-32) from 3-point range - while also dishing out 36 assists.

"We're starting to figure out how to attack (zone defence) best and I thought it was a good response from the other night against LA, where we settled for a lot of 3s, but tonight I thought we made a heavy emphasis of getting into the paint making zone collapse first," Giddey said of the Thunder's success against multiple defensive looks.

Collin Sexton scored 31 and Lauri Markkanen added 26 for the Jazz (22-21), who had their nine-game home winning streak brought to an end. 

The Thunder finish their four-game road trip at Minnesota on Saturday night.

In Minneapolis, Anthony Edwards scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half, Rudy Gobert had 17 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high-tying six blocks as the West-leading Timberwolves beat the injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies 118-103.

The Timberwolves (30-11) have hit the midpoint of their schedule on pace for 60 wins. 

The franchise record (58) was set in 2003-04 when they reached the western conference finals, the only year they've ever advanced past the first round of the playoffs. 

They are 17-2 at home and 21-6 against conference opponents, too - both on pace to set franchise records.

In New York, Jalen Brunson had 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, leading the Knicks to a 113-109 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Julius Randle added 21 points for the Knicks (25-17), while Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby each had 19. 

The Knicks improved to 8-2 since Anunoby joined the lineup on January 1 after being acquired from Toronto.

In Toronto, Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points against his former team as Chicago beat Toronto 116-110.

- with AAP