New York (AFP) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points and the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New York Knicks 111-100 on Sunday while the Boston Celtics clinched a playoff berth. Jalen Williams added 22 points while Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 13 rebounds as the reigning NBA champion Thunder improved to 59-16, 2.5 games ahead of San Antonio atop the Western Conference.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander extended his NBA record run of games with 20 or more points to 135 in a row. “He’s MVP for a reason,” Thunder guard Luguentz Dort said of “SGA”. “He knows the type of shot he’s going to get and he’s never going to lay down and we know he’s always going to be aggressive for us, which he did throughout the whole game.” The visiting Knicks, led by 32 points from Jalen Brunson, fell to 48-27 and missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth.
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Josh Hart’s three-pointer at the buzzer lifted New York within 53-52 at half-time, but the Thunder stretched the advantage to 84-78 after three quarters. A 10-0 run pulled New York within 92-91 but Gilgeous-Alexander made back-to-back three-pointers and a jumper in an 10-0 run soon after that gave the Thunder a 106-95 edge on the way to a 14th victory in 15 games. “They’re a good team. We knew it was going to be a tough one,” said Dort, who scored 12 points. “We just had to stay in there throughout the whole game and we did. Every time we play together like that we’re hard to beat.”
Jayson Tatum delivered 32 points, eight assists and five rebounds as the Boston Celtics sealed a playoff berth with a 114-99 victory at Charlotte. Payton Pritchard added 28 points for Boston (50-24), which pulled within four games of Eastern Conference leader Detroit. The Los Angeles Clippers (39-36) stretched their win streak to five games as reserve Bennedict Mathurin scored 28 points and Kawhi Leonard added 20 in a 127-113 victory at Milwaukee, which got 36 points from Gary Trent in a losing cause.
Houston’s Alperen Sengun had 36 points and 14 rebounds while Kevin Durant added 20 points to spark the Rockets in a 134-102 victory at New Orleans. Cameroon’s Pascal Siakam had 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to lead the league-worst Indiana Pacers (17-58) over visiting Miami 135-118. Brooklyn (18-57) stayed ahead of Indiana for the NBA basement by snapping a 10-game losing streak as Ochai Agbaji scored 18 points in a 116-99 home victory over Sacramento.
R.J. Barrett scored 24 points and Scottie Barnes added 23 to power host Toronto over Orlando 139-87 while Toumani Camara led Portland with 23 points in a 123-88 victory over visiting Washington.
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