The Oklahoma City Thunder took on the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, searching for a third-straight win on the first night of a back-to-back. OKC would ultimately blow out the Grizzlies in NBA Cup play, winning 128-97.

Nearly every Thunder played solidly against Memphis, seeing a wire-to-wire win.

Oklahoma City has now won three-straight games, a massive boost after suffering back-to-back losses against the Mavericks and Rockets. OKC moved to 7-2 with the win, and has now remained within the top-four of the Western Conference.

Here were winners and losers from the Thunder's Friday-night tilt against the Grizzlies:

Winner: OKC’s starting guard trio

All three of Oklahoma City’s starting guards found their rhythm versus Memphis, combining to score a whopping 84 points in total.

The Thunder continued to be led by its two-time MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though he was properly flanked by both Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain tonight. 

SGA picked his spots well, shooting 50% from the floor, 60% from three and 100% from the line, to go with four assists, one steal and one block with 28 points. McCain, amid a fairly cold spell, bounced back for 21 points on much-needed 3-for-8 3-point shooting.

Mitchell stood alone as nearly inarguably the best player on the floor, igniting for 35 points on highly efficient shooting. He carved up the Grizzlies defense time and again, getting downhill, pulling up and more.

Winner: The Thunder's defense

While the Thunder are still down as many as three All-Defense members in Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, its defense found its stride against the Grizzlies, holding them to just 97 points. 

OKC made its name with the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein and Aday Mara on the interior, Josh Dix, Mitchell and SGA on the perimeter, and everyone else in between.

For the first time in some time they used their patented avalanche to stifle opposing scorers, turning it into offense on the other end.

Loser: Grizzlies’ efficiency 

In tandem with the Thunder’s elite defense, Memphis saw poor offensive process, and came out of the game with poor shooting splits across the board.

Ty Jerome played solidly in continuing to be the team’s lone shot-maker and play-maker, though his teammates were largely unable to get going. The team’s rookie in No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer struggled to score on the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein, Aday Mara, Alex Caruso and more, shooting 2-for-14 from the field.

The Grizzlies’ bench core especially struggled to score, fueling a 32% night from the floor team-wide, and just 22% from three.