WASHINGTON (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Oklahoma Thunder pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Washington Wizards 132-111 on Saturday night for their 11th straight win, a game during which four players were ejected following a scuffle in the first half.
Gilgeous-Alexander extended his NBA record of 63 consecutive road games with at least 20 points.
Oklahoma’s Jaylin Williams and Washington’s Justin Champagnie began shoving each other after a basket by the Wizards with 27 seconds left in the second quarter. Several players joined in and the scrum spilled into the stands behind the basket.
In addition to Williams and Champagnie, Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace of the Thunder each received a technical foul and were ejected.
Despite losing three players, the Thunder were able to send the Wizards to their season-worst 15th straight loss.
Isaiah Hartenstein had 20 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 points for Oklahoma City. Chet Holmgren had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Jared McCain added 18 points.
Bilal Coulibaly scored 21 points and Bub Carrington added 19 for the Wizards, who are one game from matching a franchise-worst skid of 16 consecutive losses, which happened most recently in March 2024.
HORNETS 124, GRIZZLIES 101
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball scored 29 points and finished 7 of 14 from 3-point range to help lift Charlotte to their third straight victory, over struggling Memphis.
Brandon Miller had 22 points and Moussa Diabate had 14 rebounds and 11 points for the Hornets, who have won five of their last six and are 21-6 since Jan. 22 to make a push for a play-in spot.
GG Jackson scored 19 points and Javon Small added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have lost two in a row and 10 of their last 11.
CAVALIERS 111, PELICANS 106
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points and James Harden, held scoreless in the first half, added 20 second-half points to power Cleveland to a comeback victory over New Orleans.
Cleveland trailed 88-76 entering the final period, but outscored the Pelicans 35-18 in the fourth — with Harden scoring 13 and Mitchell 12 in the quarter. It was the Cavaliers’ eighth victory in their last nine games against New Orleans, which had its seven-game home winning streak snapped.
Harden made three 3-pointers and a layup in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to spark an 18-7 run, and the Cavs took the lead for good, 100-99, on a layup by Max Strus, during a 15-7 surge.
Zion Williams, who picked up three early fouls and was quiet offensively in the first half, scored 15 of his team-high 25 points in the third quarter. In a 2:16 span of the third, Williamson scored 11 points and assisted on a 3-pointer by Saddiq Bey in the left corner during a 14-2 run that gave the Pelicans a 72-61 lead. Bey finished with 19.
ROCKETS 123, HEAT 122
HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 27 points to move past Michael Jordan for fifth place on the NBA’s career scoring list and Amen Thompson had a tip-in at the buzzer to lift Houston to a win over Miami.
Durant’s shot for the win bounced off the rim and Thompson tipped it in to give Houston the thrilling victory. Durant has 32,294 points in his career, two more than Jordan.
Miami trailed by eight before using a 9-2 run, with a 3 from Simon Fontecchio, to get within 119-118 with 46.3 seconds to go. Reed Sheppard made a shot in the lane to push the lead to 121-118 with 12.7 seconds left.
Bam Adebayo made two free throws after that before Jabari Smith Jr. was called for goaltending on a layup by Fontecchio to put the Heat on top 122-121 with 5.4 seconds remaining and set up the wild ending.
SPURS 134, PACERS 119
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper each scored 24 points and San Antonio never trailed in a victory over Indiana.
San Antonio All-Star Victor Wembanyama had 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five blocks. Harper was 9 for 13 from the field in his first NBA start.
Andrew Nembhard scored 25 points and Jarace Walker added 21 for the Pacers, whose franchise-record losing streak reached 16 games. Indiana fell to 15-56 overall and is in last place in the Eastern Conference after losing to Oklahoma City in seven games in last season’s the NBA Finals.
San Antonio has won 21 of its last 23 games and improved to 53-18, securing its most victories since finishing 61-21 in 2017.
The Pacers had three players out and 10 questionable with various injuries Saturday. Nine of the 10 in question played, with the exception being Ethan Thompson, who is on a G League assignment.
HAWKS 126, WARRIORS 110
ATLANTA (AP) — Dyson Daniels scored a season-high 28 points and CJ McCollumn had 23 points as Atlanta bounced back after having their 11-game win streak snapped with a win over Golden State.
Zaccharie Risacher had 17 points for the Hawks, who were without Jalen Johnson (left shoulder inflammation).
Mouhamed Gueye had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 17 as the Hawks shot 54% from the floor to win their 10th straight home game.
Daniels had 15 points in the first quarter, a career-high for one quarter, and finished with six assists and four steals. The Hawks had won 11 in a row before a 117-95 loss to Houston on Friday night.
Jonathan Kuminga struggled for the Hawks in his first game against the team he spent four-plus seasons with. He had two points on 1 for 9 shooting.
De’Anthony Melton had 20 points to lead the Warriors, who have lost eight of their last nine games as they await the return of several injured players.
Read the full article here