Reigning NBA champion the Oklahoma City Thunder, fueled by 31 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Tuesday rallied to beat the Sacramento Kings 107-101 to improve to 5-0 in the young season.
The Philadelphia 76ers also remained unbeaten, erasing a double-digit deficit to improve to 4-0 with a thrilling 139-134 overtime victory over the Wizards in Washington.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was last season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), NBA Finals MVP and league scoring leader, shook off a slow third quarter to score nine in the fourth as the Thunder rallied despite the absence of Chet Holmgren with a sore lower back.
Photo: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Aaron Wiggins and Ajay Mitchell scored 18 points apiece, while Lu Dort added 13 for Oklahoma City, who trailed by three going into the fourth quarter, but finally took the lead for good, 99-97, on a Dort three-pointer with 2 minutes, 33 seconds to play.
“We did what it took to win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
The 76ers had an even bigger mountain to climb in Washington, and they did it with guard Tyrese Maxey leading the way.
Maxey — whose two 40-point performances in the opening week of action were among the record-setting 16 in the first seven days of the season — scored 39 points and handed out 10 assists, and big man Joel Embiid added 25 points before sitting out overtime.
Trailing by as many as 19 in the third quarter, the Sixers tied it at 126-126 on Quentin Grimes’ three-pointer with 38.7 seconds left in regulation.
After Kris Middleton missed at the buzzer, they went to overtime, the 76ers taking a 132-131 lead on Adem Bona’s put-back dunk then building their cushion with three free throws from Maxey.
The Wizards closed within one point with 7.6 seconds left, but a pair of free throws by Maxey, and a steal and two free throws from Grimes sealed the victory.
“It was really amazing to be able to pull away with this one,” Bona said. “We came together and put it together.”
Grimes finished with 23 points off the bench, and Bona blocked four shots in the fourth quarter and another in overtime in a definitive defensive performance.
“It feels amazing to be able to contribute to the team in any way possible,” Bona told NBC Sports Philadelphia. “It doesn’t have to be points... I’ve just got to do it the best way I do it, rebounding, blocking shots, running the floor — it feels amazing.”
Bona, who was part of Turkey’s run to the silver medal at EuroBasket last month, said that experience had him razor-sharp coming into the NBA campaign.
“I think that helped a lot, playing in such a high stakes game back in Europe and also like I kind of started my season a little bit earlier, so I’m kind of like mid-season shape right now,” he said.
Eight Wizards players scored in double figures, led by center Alex Sarr’s 31 points with 11 rebounds five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points with eight rebounds and seven assists as the Bucks erased a 12-point halftime deficit to beat the New York Knicks 121-111.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 36 points, but was slowed in the fourth quarter after appearing to tweak a leg.
He stayed in the game, but the Bucks had all the momentum, knotting it at 103-103 on an Antetokounmpo dunk midway through the fourth, taking the lead on an Antetokounmpo layup and relentlessly pulling away.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS