The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119.
NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history.
They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs.
Photo: AP
The New York Knicks and Orlando Magic are also to meet for a place in Tuesday’s final.
In Los Angeles, Stephon Castle scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox added 20 to lead San Antonio, who beat the Lakers despite the continued absence of French superstar Victor Wembanyama.
While Wembanyama missed his 12th game with a calf injury, San Antonio have won nine games.
Photo: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Coach Mitch Johnson said before the contest that Wembanyama was “very, very close” to a return.
Seven Spurs players — including three reserves — scored in double figures as San Antonio withstood a 35-point performance from Lakers star Luka Doncic.
“We all just want to win,” Fox said. “We don’t care who does it. We just want to get it done at the end of the day. So we have a very versatile team, very deep team. So it’s a lot of guys that can get it done every night.”
Photo: AP
Marcus Smart returned from injury to score 26 off the bench for the Lakers and LeBron James added 19.
However, Los Angeles struggled to find a way to slow down the speedy Spurs, who held the advantage in fast-break points and second-chance points, and scored 16 points off 11 Lakers turnovers.
The Spurs shrugged off a slow start and followed a late first-quarter surge with an 8-0 run to start the second.
Trailing by as many as 24 early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers cut the deficit to eight, but the Spurs had an answer to every push Los Angeles made.
“We had some good moments, but the majority of the game we were playing uphill too much,” James said.
On Wednesday’s evidence, few would bet against Oklahoma City completing an NBA Finals-NBA Cup double after a superb performance before their home crowd at the Paycom Center.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard and most importantly it’s about us getting better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after an offensive display that included 22 Thunder three-pointers.
“We just moved the ball really well. Played together, very decisive on offense and tried to play through our comfort zone and when we do that we’re a pretty good offense,” added Gilgeous-Alexander, who has scored 20 points or more in 96 consecutive games.
Oklahoma City are aiming to go one better in the NBA Cup than they did last season, when they reached the final only to be upset by the Milwaukee Bucks.
“We should be in a good position — we’ve got a lot better since last year,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS