SGA Scores 33 As Thunder Rally Past Knicks 117-107 For 14th Straight Win

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to win their 14th straight game, 117-107 over the New York Knicks on Friday night.

Jalen Williams added 20 points and Aaron Wiggins scored 15 of his 19 points in the final period, when Oklahoma City erased an 88-80 deficit by outscoring the Knicks 37-19.

Isaiah Hartenstein, playing against his former team for the first time, contributed 14 rebounds, seven assists and four points for the Thunder (29-5), whose loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup championship game on Dec. 17 does not count in the standings.

Mikal Bridges scored 24 points for New York (25-10), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 17 points and 22 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 22 points, OG Anunoby scored 20 and Josh Hart had 19.

The game was the fourth in the NBA's 79-year history between teams on winning streaks of nine games or more.

New York led 66-54 at halftime. Oklahoma City outscored the Knicks 26-22 in the third quarter to trim the lead to single digits and set the stage for the team's third comeback in three games.

Takeaways

Knicks: New York allowed Oklahoma City to dictate the tempo in the fourth quarter.

Thunder: Oklahoma City put together big third quarters to rally for wins over Minnesota and the Clippers. They waited until the fourth to take control against the Knicks.

Key moment

Oklahoma City trailed 97-92 midway through the fourth when Wiggins went to work, sparking a 25-10 run with three 3-pointers and a three-point play.

Key stat

Oklahoma City made 14 of 27 3-pointers (51.9%) compared to 9 of 32 (21.8%) for New York.

Up next: OKC plays Boston, looks for 15th straight win

Boston Celtics (26-9, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (29-5, first in the Western Conference)

Oklahoma City; Sunday, 3:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City hosts Boston trying to continue its five-game home winning streak.



The Thunder are 16-2 on their home court. Oklahoma City has a 22-1 record in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Celtics are 13-3 on the road. Boston ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference with 34.0 defensive rebounds per game led by Jayson Tatum averaging 8.8.

The Thunder’s 13.5 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.8 more made shots on average than the 12.7 per game the Celtics allow. The Celtics average 18.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 6.1 more made shots on average than the 12.6 per game the Thunder give up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring 31.2 points per game with 5.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists for the Thunder.

Tatum is averaging 28.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists for the Celtics.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 10-0, averaging 114.5 points, 43.4 rebounds, 25.6 assists, 10.9 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 102.1 points per game.

Celtics: 6-4, averaging 116.9 points, 46.6 rebounds, 24.7 assists, 8.5 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 103.9 points.

INJURIES: Thunder: Chet Holmgren: out (hip), Nikola Topic: out for season (acl), Alex Caruso: day to day (hip).

Celtics: Al Horford: day to day (rest), Jaylen Brown: day to day (shoulder).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.