OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their seventh straight game to improve to 15-1, beating the Sacramento Kings 113-99 on Wednesday night.
Chet Holmgren had 21 points and Lu Dort scored all 14 of his points in the second half, including 11 in the fourth quarter for the defending champion Thunder. They have won all three matchups with the Kings.
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points and DeMar DeRozan added 17 for the Kings, who lost their seventh straight. Kings big man Domantas Sabonis sat out because of soreness in his left knee.
The Thunder started the season with a pair of double-overtime wins and had some close calls before finally losing to Portland. Since the loss, they have won every game — with an average margin of 20.3 points. All have been by double digits. Included in the run is a 24-point victory over Golden State and a 29-point win over the Los Angeles Lakers on back-to-back nights last week at home.
Former Thunder star Russell Westbrook, as usual, got a warm reception from the Oklahoma City crowd during starter introductions. He was the league MVP in 2017 and a two-time scoring champion with the Thunder. He had another solid game in the familiar surroundings, posting seven points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Sacramento’s Zach LaVine made a shot from beyond halfcourt as the first half expired, but it was ruled that he shot it after the buzzer, and the Thunder maintained a 58-50 lead at the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander worked some magic late in the third quarter. He banked in a mid-range jumper from near the right side of the free throw line and was fouled and made the free throw to put the Thunder up 83-67. Oklahoma City took an 83-69 advantage into the fourth.
ROCKETS 114, CAVALIERS 104
CLEVELAND (AP ) — Alperen Sengun had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 20 points, and Houston extended its winning streak to five with a victory over Cleveland.
Aaron Holiday scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for Houston, which is 10-1 since starting the season with two losses. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 14 and Amen Thompson had 12 points, nine boards and five steals.
De’Andre Hunter scored 25 points to pace the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell added 21 points, 19 in the final period when they got as close as 77-76 before the Rockets answered with back-to-back hoops by Sengun and Thompson.
Evan Mobley had 18 points, but missed six of his 10 free throw attempts for Cleveland, which fell to 2-2 on a six-game homestand, its longest of the season. Jarrett Allen added eight points and seven rebounds.
Houston extended its lead to 69-47 midway through the third on Smith’s jumper, but the Cavaliers ended the quarter on a 23-5 run to pull within 74-70. Mobley had eight points and Lonzo Ball added seven during the surge.
Durant had 13 points and Sengun had 10 points and six rebounds, powering the Rockets to a 57-40 advantage at halftime. Houston led by 14 in the opening quarter and by 20 in the second.
Smith and Hunter were both called for flagrant fouls and technicals in the first half, while Cleveland’s Nae’Qwan Tomlin picked up a technical.
Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland (left great toe) and swingman Jaylon Tyson (concussion) both missed their fifth straight games, while shooting guard Sam Merrill (right hand sprain) was hurt Monday against Milwaukee. Tyson could return Friday.
RAPTORS 121, 76ERS 112
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each scored 22 points and Toronto won its fifth straight game, surging in the third quarter to beat Philadelphia.
Jakob Poeltl scored 19 points, and Immanuel Quickley had 18 — hitting two 3-pointers in the final two minutes — to help the Raptors win for the ninth time in 10 games. Scottie Barnes added 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 24 points. VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes had 21 points each.
The 76ers led 56-53 at halftime behind 15 points from Maxey. Toronto took the lead with an 18-7 run to start the third quarter, powered by seven points from Ingram. The Raptors outscored the 76ers 44-28 in the period.
Toronto shot 2 for 15 from 3-point range in the first half, then went 5 for 6 from deep in the third quarter. Toronto is 7-3 on the road and 9-2 against Eastern Conference opposition.
Sixers center Joel Embiid (right knee injury management) missed a fourth straight game and his ninth out of 14 this season. Paul George, who made his season debut Monday, was held out as part of management of his left knee injury. The 76ers announced before the game that Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss at least two weeks with a sprained LCL in his left knee.
Raptors rookie forward Collin Murray-Boyles missed the game because of right knee soreness.
PACERS 127, HORNETS 118
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bennedict Mathurin scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Indiana snapped an eight-game losing streak with a victory over Charlotte.
The Pacers, off to their worst start in franchise history with 12 losses in 13 previous games, pulled away in the second quarter as Mathurin scored nine of his team’s last 11 points for a 70-54 halftime lead. Indiana has been without as many as seven players due to injuries, including Mathurin, who returned Monday after missing 10 games with a toe injury.
Pascal Siakam scored 22 points and backup center Jay Huff scored 20 as the Pacers had six players in double digits.
Indiana hit 16 of 38 from beyond the arc while the Hornets were 13 of 45.
Rookie guard Kon Knueppel led the Hornets with 28 points, including five 3s. Miles Bridges scored 25.
The Hornets (4-11) are 1-7 on the road.
HEAT 110, WARRIORS 96
WASHINGTON (AP) — Norman Powell scored 25 points, Bam Adebayo returned to score 20 and Miami pulled away late to top extremely short-handed Golden State.
Former Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins scored 17 and Kel’el Ware grabbed 16 rebounds for Miami, which outscored Golden State 38-22 in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors, at the end of a six-game, nine-day trip, were without their four highest-paid players: Stephen Curry (ankle), former Heat forward Jimmy Butler (back), Draymond Green (illness) and Jonathan Kuminga (knee), a group making about $162 million this season. Al Horford, who isn’t playing back-to-backs and appeared in Golden State’s loss at Orlando on Tuesday, also sat out.
Brandin Podziemski scored 20 for Golden State, which got 19 from Quinten Post and 18 from Buddy Hield. The Warriors gave up 23 turnovers that Miami turned into 34 points — 20 more than Golden State scored off Miami’s 14 giveaways.
The teams combined to shoot 38.4%, the second-worst shooting game in the NBA so far this season. Toronto and Atlanta combined to shoot 37.4% in the Raptors’ 109-97 win on Nov. 7.
Adebayo missed Miami’s six previous games with a toe injury. The Heat are still without guard Tyler Herro, though he could make his season debut in the coming days after offseason ankle surgery.
NUGGETS 125, PELICANS 118
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, and Denver defeated New Orleans.
Peyton Watson scored a career-high 32 points as Denver won for the eighth time in nine games. Jamal Murray had 14 points, including a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left.
Zion Williamson scored 14 points for New Orleans in 29 minutes in his return from a left hamstring injury that had sidelined him for eight games.
Rookie Derik Queen, who started opposite Jokic at center, scored a season-high 30 points to go with nine rebounds, and Trey Murphy III added 23 points for the Pelicans, who lost their seventh straight and fell to 0-3 under interim coach James Borrego.
After trailing by as many as 19, New Orleans reduced its deficit to single digits in the final minutes, but former Pelican Jonas Valanciunas, who scored 14 points, hit a pair of clutch jumpers for the Nuggets.
Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears scored 16, giving the guard 11 or more points in all but one of New Orleans’ 15 games this season.
Watson scored 11 of his points in the first six minutes of the second half, when the Nuggets widened their lead from 62-58 at halftime to 81-70.
That’s when Jokic started to take over, hitting a putback layup, a 7-foot pull-up jumper and a 3 that made it 93-76.
With Williamson back in the starting lineup, the Pelicans raced to a 13-point lead when Herb Jones’ 3 made it 23-10 in the first quarter. But Denver steadily erased its deficit and took the lead for good when Watson’s 3 made it 51-49 with 3:02 left in the second quarter.
TIMBERWOLVES 120, WIZARDS 109
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Julius Randle had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Minnesota held off a late rally by Washington to secure the victory.
The Timberwolves, who have won six of their last seven games, were without forward Jaden McDaniels, who has a sprained left wrist and missed his first game in nearly two years. Naz Reid had 28 points off the bench.
Kyshawn George had 23 points for the Wizards, who have lost 12 straight.
The Timberwolves led by as many as 27 points, but the Wizards closed the gap in the fourth quarter when George’s 3-pointer made it 98-93 with 7:06 to go.
Randle’s dunk pulled Minnesota away 105-96 with 5:51 left but Khris Middleton’s jumper got the Wizards within 106-101. The Timberwolves never surrendered the lead and put the game away on Donte DiVincenzo’s 3-pointer that made it 116-106 with 1:29 to go.
The reeling Wizards have won just one game this season and there is talk that coach Brian Keefe could be on the hot seat. The only NBA coach dismissed so far this season has been Willie Green, fired Saturday by the New Orleans Pelicans after a 2-10 start.
Randle’s driving layup put Minnesota up 32-24 late in the first quarter. The Timberwolves pulled away in the second quarter, taking a 50-29 lead on Reid’s corner 3-pointer from a no-look pass from Rudy Gobert. Randle’s emphatic dunk made it 61-37 and Minnesota led 71-46 at halftime.
The Wizards opened the half on a 10-2 run then closed the gap to 78-67 on Marvin Bagley III’s short jumper midway through the third quarter as they mounted their rally.
McDaniels was averaging a career-best 17.5 points per game when he left Monday’s 120-96 win over Dallas on Monday late in the third quarter.
BULLS 122, TRAIL BLAZERS 121
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nikola Vucevic hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Chicago held off a furious comeback attempt by Portland Trail Blazers for a victory.
Vucevic finished with 27 points and Coby White had 25 off the bench for the Bulls, who led by 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Deni Avdija’s 3-pointer tied it for the Blazers at 116 and Donovan Clingan’s layup put the Blazers in front with 47 seconds left. Clingan added a free throw to cap a 31-7 run and give Portland a 119-116 lead.
White’s 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds pulled the Bulls within 120-119. After Jerami Grant hit the second of two free throws, White popped the ball out to Vucevic on the perimeter for the game-winner.
Grant finished with 33 points for the slumping Blazers, who have lost four straight and six of the last seven.
The Bulls were coming off a 130-127 victory over the Nuggets that ended a five-game losing streak. White sat out that game after returning the night before against Utah from a calf injury that had kept him out the first 11 games of the season.
The Blazers were playing the second of a back-to-back after falling 127-110 to the visiting Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
Jrue Holiday missed a third straight game with a calf injury and the Blazers were also without Shaedon Sharpe because of right calf soreness. Grant, who missed Tuesday’s game with an illness, started.
The Blazers led for most of the first quarter before the Bulls pulled in front 33-31 early in the second on White’s 26-foot running jumper. Chicago led 62-58 at the break.
KNICKS 113, MAVERICKS 111
DALLAS (AP) — Jalen Brunson had a game-high 28 points in his return from a two-game absence, Landry Shamet scored a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:02 and drew a crucial charging foul in the final second, and New York beat Dallas.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 14 rebounds while Josh Hart had 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Knicks, who won for the first time in five road games.
Brunson, who had a grade 1 ankle sprain, hit a free throw with 3.8 seconds left for a two-point lead. Dallas’ P.J. Washington inbounded to Brandon Williams at midcourt, Williams drove to the basket and scored with 0.7 seconds left but was called for charging into Shamet.
D’Angelo Russell and Naji Marshall scored 23 points each off the bench for the Mavericks, who have lost five of their last six games.
Brunson’s free throw ended a string of five straight Knicks misses from the line in the final 22 seconds. They shot 19 for 35 (54.3%) on free throws overall.
The Knicks were 12 for 42 from 3-point range after hitting 3 of 22 during the first half.
The Mavericks, who were last in the NBA averaging 10.5 3-pointers per game, hit 13 through the first three quarters but were 3 for 11 in the fourth.
Dallas tied a season high with 64 points from its bench to New York’s 39, but Mavericks starters scored only 47 points.
The Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg, the top pick in this year’s draft, missed his first NBA game on Wednesday night with an illness.
The Associated Press
