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.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
RSS