MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 11 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 102-97 on Saturday night in a matchup of the top teams in the Western Conference standings.
Jaylin Williams added 20 points for Oklahoma City, and Minnesota native Chet Holmgren had 15. The Thunder trailed by 11 early in the fourth before rallying to win for the second time in four games to pull within a game of Minnesota.
Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns each had 19 points for Minnesota and Naz Reid added 18. The Timberwolves had won four in a row to regain the West’s No. 1 spot after losing four of six to drop behind Oklahoma City.
KNICKS 126, RAPTORS 100
NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle had 18 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in his 14th career triple-double, and New York routed Toronto in the first meeting between the teams since a trade last month.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley return to loud cheers at Madison Square Garden, but the Knicks improved to 9-2 since OG Anunoby joined their lineup after the Dec. 30 deal that has helped both teams.
Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 38 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the field and hit each of his seven free throws. Randle had his eighth triple-double with the Knicks.
Barrett scored 20 points and Quickley had 12 points and 11 assists.
BUCKS 141, PISTONS 135
DETROIT (AP) — Damian Lilliard had 45 points and 11 assists to lead Milwaukee over Detroit.
Giannis Antetokounmpo added 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, but missed 11 of his 22 free throw attempts. Brook Lopez had 19 points for the Bucks, who have won four of five.
Alec Burks (33) and Ausur Thompson (career-high 22) combined for 55 points for Detroit’s second unit, but Bojan Bogdanovic (19) and Jaden Ivey (18) were the only starters to reach double figures in the opener of a two-game series.
The Pistons are 2-37 in their last 39 games, including a record-tying 28-game losing streak. They host Milwaukee again Monday.
76ERS 97, HORNETS 89
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Joel Embiid had 33 points to extend his franchise-record run of 30 or more to 20 games and Philadelphia beat Charlotte for its fifth straight victory.
The reigning NBA MVP Embiid also had 10 rebounds. He was 11 of 23 from the field and made 11 of 12 free throws.
Tobias Harris added 21 points and Tyrese Maxey had 16 points and eight assists to help Philadelphia improve to 28-13. The 76ers — coming off a victory Friday night at Orlando — trailed by four entering the fourth quarter, then held the Hornets to 16 points in the final period.
Miles Bridges had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte. No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller added 23. The Hornets are 9-31.
SPURS 131, WIZARDS 127
WASHINGTON (AP) — Victor Wembanyama returned after sitting out a game to score 24 points and grab eight rebounds, leading San Antonio over Washington.
Tre Jones added 11 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds for the Spurs, while Jeremy Sochan scored 23 points and Devin Vasell had 21.
Wembanyama sat out for the sixth time this season against Charlotte on Friday night. The No. 1 overall pick sprained an ankle on Dec. 23 at Dallas, and the Spurs have been cautious with him. The reason for his absence was listed as “rest” on the injury report. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said it was “doctor’s orders.“
CAVALIERS 116, HAWKS 95
ATLANTA (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 18 points and eight assists to lead a balanced attack as Cleveland extended the NBA’s longest current win streak to seven games with a victory over Atlanta.
Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while seven Cavaliers scored in double figures. Sam Merrill had 18 points with five 3-pointers. Dean Wade scored 17 and Georges Niang had 14.
The Cavs scored the first 10 points of the game and never trailed in holding the Hawks to a season-low in points and beating Atlanta for the third time in three games this season.
Dejounte Murray, who hit last-second, game-winning shots for the Hawks in their previous two games, led Atlanta with 24 points. He also had nine rebounds and five assists. Jalen Johnson added 20 points and seven rebounds.
BULLS 125, GRIZZLIES 96
CHICAGO (AP) — Ayo Dosunmu scored 20 points, DeMar DeRozan added 18 and Chicago pounded Memphis.
After falling behind, the Bulls had a 17-0 third-quarter run to pull away to their sixth win in eight games, even though Zach LaVine sat out because of a sprained right ankle.
Coby White added 17 points for Chicago. Patrick Williams added 15 and Andre Drummond chipped in with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 26 points after scoring 36 points Thursday night in a loss at Minnesota. Luke Kennard and Vince Williams Jr. each had 14 points.
ROCKETS 127, JAZZ 126, OT
HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun scored a career-high 37 points and had a game-high 14 rebounds to lead Houston over Utah.
Sengun missed two free throws with 8.1 seconds remaining in overtime, and Utah’s Jordan Clarkson missed a mid-range jumper in the closing seconds as Houston hung on to snap a three-game losing streak.
Utah has now lost back-to-back games following a six-game winning streak.
Clarkson led Utah with 33 points off the bench, while Collin Sexton added 28. Walker Kessler had five blocks and Ochai Agbaji added three blocks.
The Associated Press
