Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept his record-breaking 20-point scoring streak alive as the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled to an eighth straight win with a 116-103 defeat of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Gilgeous-Alexander, who on Thursday eclipsed Wilt Chamberlain’s 63-year-old record for consecutive games of scoring 20 points or more, finished with 20 points, 10 assists, and three rebounds.
Yet the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player left it late before reaching 20 points for the 128th game in a row, with 10 of his points coming in the fourth quarter after he spent long periods struggling for shooting accuracy. Gilgeous-Alexander shot only 7-of-22 from the field but was given scoring support from the Thunder bench, who contributed 61 of Oklahoma City’s points, including 20 from Isaiah Joe and 17 from Alex Caruso.
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“At the end of the day it’s basketball,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his lacklustre shooting display. “I went out there with the same aggression I do every night. More shots didn’t fall tonight than do, and usually that’s not the case. But some nights go your way, some nights don’t. But regardless, I feel like I contributed enough for our team to get the W (win) and that’s first and foremost – walking out of here with a win.”
Sunday’s victory helped the defending NBA champions extend their advantage at the top of the Western Conference standings heading into the final month of the regular season. The Thunder are now 53-15, three-and-half games clear of the second-placed San Antonio Spurs (49-18). Minnesota fell to 41-27 and remain in sixth place in the West.
Julius Randle led Minnesota’s scoring with 32 points while Anthony Edwards added 19 and Ayo Dosunmu 18 from the bench. Minnesota had won two of their three previous games against Oklahoma City this season and could have clinched regular-season bragging rights with victory. But after edging into a 53-47 lead at halftime, Minnesota were unable to build from that platform in the second half, with the Thunder erasing their advantage with a 33-23 third quarter before outscoring the visitors by nine points in the fourth.
– Raptors beat Pistons –
Eastern Conference leaders Detroit were upset 119-108 at Toronto, where Brandon Ingram scored 34 points and Jakob Poeltl added 21 points and 18 rebounds for the Raptors (38-29). Cade Cunningham led the Pistons (48-19) — who had a three-game win streak snapped — with 33 points and nine assists while Jalen Duren had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
At Cleveland, top NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg scored a game-high 27 points and added 10 assists to spark Dallas over the Cavaliers 130-120. Donovan Mitchell had 26 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which fell to 41-27, 2.5 games behind third-place New York (44-25) in the Eastern Conference. Jalen Brunson scored 30 points to lead New York over visiting Golden State 110-107.
At Indianapolis, the Milwaukee Bucks got 31 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo in a 134-123 triumph over the NBA-worst Indiana Pacers (15-53), whose losing streak reached 13 games. Bobby Portis added 29 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Bucks (28-39), who snapped a four-game losing skid. Philadelphia’s Quentin Grimes scored 31 points and Justin Edwards added 21 to lead the 76ers over visiting Portland 109-103.
© 2024 AFP
