Washington (United States) (AFP) – Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sparked defending champion Oklahoma City to victory on Sunday while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half.
“We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow. We hit some shots in the second half and that got us going.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder while Andrew Wiggins led the Heat (20-19) with 23 points.
A day after losing at Cleveland, Minnesota edged the visiting Spurs 104-103 on a bank shot by Anthony Edwards with 16.8 seconds to play. “Ant-Man” had 23 points while Donte DiVincenzo scored 19, reserve Naz Reid added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert grabbed 14 rebounds. Victor Wembanyama, who scored five points in San Antonio’s game-opening 16-0 run, led the Spurs with 29 points, but the French star and De’Aaron Fox each missed go-ahead shots in the dying seconds. Second-place San Antonio (27-12) fell 5.5 games behind the Thunder atop the Western Conference, with the T-Wolves another 1.5 games back at 26-14.
Another thriller came in Canada as Toronto’s Scottie Barnes made the winning free throw with 0.8 of a second remaining in overtime as the Raptors edged Philadelphia 116-115, denying the 76ers a sixth win in seven games. Barnes led Toronto with 31 points while Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 38 for the Sixers. Jamal Shead made a jumper for Toronto with 1.9 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime at 107-107. A three-pointer by V.J. Edgecombe lifted the Sixers level with 16.1 seconds remaining in overtime before Kelly Oubre’s foul on Barnes set up the deciding free throw.
New York’s Jalen Brunson scored 26 points while O.G. Anunoby added 24 to lead the Knicks to a 123-114 triumph at Portland, snapping the Trail Blazers’ five-game win streak. Anunoby made two three-pointers in an 11-0 Knicks run to seize a 114-104 lead, and Portland could not overtake New York again. Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks while Deni Avdija led Portland with 25 points.
Denver’s Aaron Gordon scored 23 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 26 off the bench to lead the Nuggets over visiting Milwaukee 108-104. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds for the Bucks. Orlando’s Desmond Bane scored 27 points as the host Magic rallied in the fourth quarter to beat New Orleans 128-118. Cedric Coward scored a game-high 21 points and sank two three-pointers in a game-ending 13-0 Memphis run as the Grizzlies defeated visiting Brooklyn 103-98. Royce O’Neale’s 19 points led host Phoenix over Washington 112-93.
© 2024 AFP
