Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept his remarkable scoring streak alive as the Oklahoma City Thunder came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the NBA season with a 126-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. The reigning NBA and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player finished with 30 points, 12 assists, and four rebounds as the Thunder moved to 8-0 at the top of the Western Conference.
Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored 20 points or more in 80 consecutive games—a feat only bettered by NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, who leads the all-time rankings with 20-point game scoring streaks of 92 and 126 games. “I just put in the work, I take care of my body, I get enough rest and I do it all over again,” the Canadian said. “I’ve found a formula that works for me and I just try to hammer it home every day, every opportunity that I can,” he added.
Related news
Gilgeous-Alexander insisted his team-mates were not dwelling on their unbeaten start to the season. “We don’t talk about it,” he said. “Just focus on the day-to-day and the game-to-game. Every night’s an opportunity to go win one. And we’ve done a good job of that for the last eight games. We’ve got to keep it going.”
Oklahoma City were made to work hard for their latest victory at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome, with the home side roaring into a 33-20 lead in the first quarter, thanks to a 17-point burst from James Harden. The Thunder picked up the pace after being rocked in the first quarter, outscoring the Clippers 33-24 in the second period to cut the deficit to one point at half-time. Oklahoma City continued to score freely after the break, following a 38-point third quarter with a lopsided fourth period to put the game to bed.
A titanic duel between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference saw the Chicago Bulls fight back from a 24-point deficit to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 113-111 in the Windy City. The Sixers looked to be heading for a blowout win after outscoring the Bulls 45-27 in the first quarter, with Tyrese Maxey nailing four three-pointers in a blistering start for Philadelphia. The Sixers continued that dominance in the second quarter, building a 75-56 advantage at half-time after leading by 24 points earlier in the period.
But Chicago flipped the script after the break, outscoring the Sixers 28-20 in the third period and then edging closer in the fourth. Nikola Vucevic’s three-pointer with just over three seconds remaining sealed victory for Chicago, who improved to 6-1 to lead the standings. Australia’s Josh Giddey led the Chicago scoring with a 29-point triple double that included 15 rebounds and 12 assists.
Chicago coach Billy Donovan praised his team’s second-half comeback—but warned they would need to improve their physicality to have a chance of challenging for honors this season. “We were really disappointed in the first half, physically,” Donovan said. “We were very fortunate to win. I’m happy they fought, never gave up, battled and competed and were able to win. But we’re not going to be a very good team if we just try and rely on running the ball down the floor and shoot. We’ve got to be more physical.”
In San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors preserved their unbeaten home record to ease past the Phoenix Suns 118-107, with Stephen Curry scoring 28 points and Moses Moody adding 24 off the bench. Elsewhere, the Toronto Raptors dominated the Milwaukee Bucks 128-100 to extend their winning streak to three games. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett scored 23 points each in a blowout victory for the Raptors as Milwaukee stumbled to their heaviest defeat of the season.
“We just didn’t have it tonight,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. “We were late on everything. Their energy, their quickness, their physicality took us out of the game, so give them credit—they were very well prepared.” The Bucks slipped to 5-3 and remain fourth in the Eastern Conference table, with Toronto improving to 4-4.
© 2024 AFP
