Thunder down Blazers to avenge lone defeat of season

AFP | Los Angeles

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The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder avenged their only defeat of the season on Sunday, using a fourth-quarter surge to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 123-115 and improve to 20-1.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points to lead six Thunder players to score in double figures.

With their 12th straight win Oklahoma City are off to the best start since the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors opened the season 21-0.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander’s 93rd straight game with at least 20 points is the second-longest such streak behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 126 straight set from October 1961-January 1963.

He surpassed a 92-game streak set by Chamberlain from February 1963-March 1964. Center Chet Holmgren added 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal for the Thunder, who opened the final period on an 8-0 scoring run to gain the upper hand in a tense clash that featured 15 lead changes.

OKC suffered their only defeat of the season against the Blazers on November 5, when the Thunder squandered a 22-point lead and fell 121-119 at Portland.

The Blazers again put them to the test, emerging from a backand-forth first half with a 55-54 lead and taking an 87-85 lead into the final period.

Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with a triple-double of 31 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Thunder wouldn’t be denied.

Aaron Wiggins came up with a steal and a basket to launch the fourth-quarter opening burst. Holmgren produced a massive block then made a layup.

Jalen Williams threw down a dunk, Ajay Mitchell came up with another steal and a layup and suddenly the Thunder had a six-point lead less than two minutes into the final frame.

“(We) got a lot of turnovers in that stretch, which goes down to playing hard, being in the right spots, really cracking down on the game plan,” said Williams, who played his second game since returning from off-season wrist surgery. “I think that kind of opened up the game.