OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-103 on Sunday in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Conference.
Gilgeous-Alexander had eight assists and made all eight of his free throws for the West-leading Thunder, who won their seventh straight game and improved to 53-11. Jalen Williams added 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who along with Gilgeous-Alexander is a top contender in the NBA MVP race, had 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. He was coming off the league’s first 30-20-20 triple-double in his team’s 149-141 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Denver went up 10-0 early as it took the Thunder nearly three minutes to score, but Oklahoma City cut its deficit to 29-28 by the end of the quarter.
The Thunder led 61-60 at halftime and took an 86-83 lead into the fourth quarter.
In a key sequence, Oklahoma City’s Aaron Wiggins stole the ball from Denver’s Russell Westbrook, then Chet Holmgren dunked at the other end to give the Thunder a 98-91 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. Denver coach Michael Malone was called for a technical foul, and Williams made the free throw. Oklahoma City controlled the game from there.
SUNS 125, MAVERICKS 116
DALLAS (AP) — Devin Booker scored 24 points, Kevin Durant had 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Phoenix beat injury-depleted Dallas.
Bradley Beal scored 19 points and Grayson Allen added 17 as the Suns pulled within 1 1/2 games of Dallas for the 10th seed in the Western Conference, the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Naji Marshall had a career high for the second consecutive game with 34 points for the Mavericks, the defending West champs who were down to seven healthy players by the end of the game.
Dallas big men Kessler Edwards and Dwight Powell went to the locker room after their heads collided chasing a loose ball late in the third quarter. Guard Brandon Williams was later ruled out with left hamstring tightness.
Edwards returned with a bandage over his left eye, but Powell didn’t come back after walking to the bench with a bleeding forehead, getting treated briefly and leaving the court.
GRIZZLIES 107, PELICANS 104
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ja Morant scored 32 points and Desmond Bane added 30 to lead Memphis past New Orleans.
Morant also had six assists and three steals for the Grizzlies, who trailed 64-57 at halftime.
Trey Murphy III scored 27 points for the Pelicans. Karlo Matkovic added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Morant missed one free throw, but then made his second with 6.2 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Jose Alvarado and Kelly Olynyk missed 3-point attempts for the Pelicans to try to force overtime.
TIMBERWOLVES 141, SPURS 124
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting to lead Minnesota past San Antonio for their fifth consecutive victory and highest score this season.
Naz Reid had 20 points and seven rebounds and Julius Randle added 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who never trailed on their way to a season-best eight games above the .500 mark (37-29).
Jaden McDaniels added 16 points, one of eight players for Minnesota scoring in double digits including Rudy Gobert (16 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes) in his return from injury. The Timberwolves matched their season high with 38 assists and went 21 for 42 from 3-point range, one short of their season best for makes.
De’Aaron Fox scored 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Stephon Castle added 20 points for the Spurs (26-36), who fell to 3-7 since star center Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a blood clot in his shoulder.
CAVALIERS 112, BUCKS 100
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Max Strus had 17 points to lead a balanced scoring attack as NBA-leading Cleveland defeated Milwaukee night for their 14th consecutive victory.
The Cavs became just the second team to win 14 straight while scoring at least 110 points in each of those games. The only other time that happened was in 1986, when the Boston Celtics did it on their way to winning a title.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and moved into 50th place on the NBA’s career scoring list. He increased his career total to 20,077 to pass Tom Chambers, who scored 20,049 from 1981-98.
Damian Lillard added 22 points for the Bucks, who were playing for a second straight night after losing 111-109 at home to the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
Donovan Mitchell had 15 points for Cleveland. Darius Garland and Evan Mobley added 13 each, while Jarret Allen had 11.
The Cavs took the lead for good with 4:15 left in the first quarter and pulled away by going on a 13-0 run that started with about 8 1/2 minutes remaining.
76ERS 126, JAZZ 122
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lonnie Walker IV and Quentin Grimes scored 25 points apiece and Philadelphia earned a victory over Utah.
Walker added 11 rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes off the bench for the 76ers (22-41). Grimes made going 6 of 13 from the floor, including 4 for 9 from 3-point range, and 9 for 9 from the free-throw line while adding six assists.
Kyle Filipowski led the way for the Jazz (15-49) with 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Keyonte George added 25 points, six rebounds and three steals for Utah.
The 76ers went into halftime leading the Jazz 65-58. Grimes put up 16 points in the half. Grimes scored the 76ers’ last eight points as they closed out a four-point victory.
PISTONS 119, TRAIL BLAZERS 112
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Cade Cunningham scored 28 points, Tobias Harris added 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and Detroit defeated Portland.
Jalen Duren finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit (36-29).
The Pistons took the lead for good when Isaiah Stewart scored inside to make it 33-32 early in the second quarter and Cunningham made a layup that pushed Detroit’s lead to 92-74 with 3:08 remaining in the third.
Anfernee Simons led Portland (28-37) with 34 points on 14-of-26 shooting and Jerami Grant scored 25. Scoot Henderson added 15 points and Shaedon Sharpe scored 12 but the young duo combined to made 8 of 25 from the field, 1 of 11 from behind the arc.
KINGS 111, CLIPPERS 110, OT
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard’s hook shot at the buzzer lifted Los Angeles over Sacramento in overtime to tighten their grip on eighth place in the West.
Leonard dribbled to the top of the key with 21.6 seconds remaining and let the clock tick down before making his winning move through defenders in the lane. The ball bounced on the rim before going in. He finished with 17 points.
James Harden had 29 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists for the Clippers, who won their third in a row. Ivica Zubac had 22 points and 14 rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan had 31 points and 10 assists and Zach LaVine added 30 points for the ninth-place Kings. They fell to 0-3 against the Clippers this season. Jonas Valanciunas had 17 rebounds.
Harden hit a jumper in the lane to tie the game 97-97 with 11.9 seconds remaining in regulation. LaVine missed a jumper from the right side as time expired to force the five-minute extra session.
The Associated Press