WASHINGTON: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to their 14th consecutive NBA victory, a 117-107 home win over the New York Knicks on Friday.
The Thunder matched the longest win streak in franchise history from the 1995-96 season, when they were the Seattle SuperSonics, and snapped New York’s nine-game win streak, the Knicks’ longest since 2013.
It was only the fourth time in the NBA’s 79-year history that teams on win streaks of nine or more games faced each other.
Canadian star Gilgeous-Alexander hit 12-of-26 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the free throw line while Jalen Williams added 20 points and Aaron Wiggins had 19 off the bench as Thunder reserves outscored the Knicks bench 35-5.
“They made big plays all night,” said Gilgeous-Alexander of his bench. “We’re a roster of 15 men, 15 professionals, 15 really skilled basketball players. Guys were ready for their moment.”
The Knicks closed the second quarter on a 23-10 run for a 66-54 half-time lead, Mikal Bridges scoring 19 of his team-high 24 points in the first half.
But the Thunder pulled within 88-80 entering the fourth quarter and an 8-0 Oklahoma City run capped by an Isaiah Joe three-pointer pulled the hosts ahead 92-91 with 8:15 to play.
The Thunder went on a 10-0 run with Wiggins hitting a three-point play and a three-pointer for a 108-101 lead with 2:22 remaining and held off the Knicks from there.
“Our (half time) message was just stick to our identity. We’ve gone down at half time the past two or three games. We’ve been there before. We know it’s a long game, a lot of things can change,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.
“We’ve just got to play to our identity as much as we can and when we do so, we usually win.”
Frenchman Victor Wembanyama was a winner in his 100th NBA game, making two key plays in the last seconds of San Antonio’s 113-110 triumph at Denver.
On the eve of his 21st birthday, the 7-foot-3 (2.21m) star assisted on Chris Paul’s go-ahead jumper with 54 seconds remaining and stole a Nikola Jokic pass with four seconds to play to set up Devin Vassell’s dunk for the final points.
In a battle of superstar big men, 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year Wembanyama had 35 points and 18 rebounds with four assists while three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had 41 points and 18 rebounds plus nine assists.
Wembanyama had a historic first season, the only campaign where an NBA player had more than 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocked shots and 100 three-pointers.
This season, “Wemby” is averaging 25.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.9 blocked shots a game as well as 3.3 three-pointers per contest.
NBA-best Cleveland improved to 30-4 with a 134-122 victory at Dallas, the Cavaliers stretching their win streak to nine games powered by Evan Mobley’s 34 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mavericks, who dropped their fourth consecutive game, were without star Luka Doncic due to a left calf strain.
Boston’s Derrick White scored 23 points while Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard each added 20 to give the reigning NBA champion Celtics (26-9) a 109-86 victory at Houston.
The Rockets, guided by former Boston coach Ime Udoka, fell to 22-12. They lost forward Jabari Smith for 4-8 weeks after he suffered a fractured left hand during Friday’s practice shootaround.
In a matchup of the NBA’s worst clubs, C.J. McCollum scored 50 points on 18-of-27 shooting and host New Orleans beat Washington 132-120.
Tristan da Silva scored a career-high 25 points to lead Orlando to a 106-97 victory at Toronto while Tobias Harris scored 24 points to lead Detroit over visiting Charlotte 98-94.
