Thunder win their 9th consecutive game with a win over the Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied his career high with 45 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-114 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.

Gilgeous-Alexander hit 15 of 22 shots and all 11 free throws in Oklahoma City’s ninth consecutive victory.

Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Isaiah Hartenstein had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder.

Andrew Nembhard scored 23 points and Pascal Siakam added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Bennedict Mathurin finished with 18 points and Myles Turner had 11 rebounds.

After Tyrese Haliburton scored to give the Pacers a 107-103 lead, the Thunder answered with an 8-0 run to go ahead 111-107 with 1:39 remaining.

The Pacers led by 15 in the first half before settling for a 61-53 halftime lead. They were ahead 84-83 after three quarters on Jarace Walker’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the period.

HEAT 89, MAGIC 88

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Herro hit a 19-foot jumper with 0.5 seconds left Thursday night to give Miami a win over Orlando.

Jalen Suggs, who scored 29 points for the Magic, missed a long jumper at the buzzer.

Herro finished with 20 points to help the Heat come back from an early 17-point deficit and avenge a loss to the Magic last Friday in which they squandered a 22-point fourth-quarter lead.

Alec Burks scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for Miami, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 15 points.

Tristan da Silva had 18 points and six rebounds for the Magic.

WIZARDS 113, HORNETS 110

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jordan Poole’s 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds remaining lifted Washington to a victory over Charlotte.

In a matchup of two of the league’s worst teams, the Wizards (5-23) beat Charlotte (7-23) for the second straight week. Washington blew a 21-point second-quarter lead but ultimately prevailed in a back-and-forth final minute.

The Hornets led by one and had Josh Green at the line with 38.3 seconds left. Green missed both free throws, and a tip-in by Wizards rookie Alex Sarr put Washington up 109-108 with 14.8 seconds remaining.

Charlotte took the lead back when Mark Williams dunked home an alley-oop pass from LaMelo Ball with 12.3 seconds to play, but after a Washington timeout, Poole made a step-back 3 from near the top of the key.

Brandon Miller missed a 3 at the other end for Charlotte, and Ball’s desperate attempt at a putback was unsuccessful. Justin Champagnie made a free throw with 1.6 seconds left for the Wizards to complete the scoring.

Poole finished with 25 points and Bilal Coulibaly had 20 for the Wizards.

Ball scored 31 for the Hornets.

HAWKS 141, BULLS 133

ATLANTA (AP) — Jalen Johnson had a career-high 30 points and Atlanta rallied from a late 21-point deficit by scoring 50 points in the fourth quarter in a win over Chicago.

Atlanta trailed 124-107 with 6:23 remaining in the game and used a 23-2 run to take its first lead since the first quarter.

Johnson added 15 rebounds and Trae Young scored 27 points, surpassing the 11,000 career point mark, and added 13 assists as the Hawks won their second straight.

Zach Levine scored a season-high 37 points in the loss. Jevon Carter scored 19 of his 26 points in the first quarter as the Bulls lost their third straight despite shooting 54% (53 for 98) from the field.

ROCKETS 128, PELICANS 111

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jalen Green scored 30 points in less than 30 minutes on the court, and Houston cruised to a victory over New Orleans.

Fred VanVleet hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points for Houston, which has won four straight and six of seven while climbing to second place in the highly competitive Western Conference.

Cam Whitmore added 27 points off the bench and center Alperen Sangun had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who led by 30 in the second half and sat their starters for most of the fourth quarter.

Trey Murphy had 21 points for the Pelicans, who have lost eight in a row and 17 of 18.

Brandon Boston and Dejounte Murray each scored 17 points, and CJ McCollum added 13 for New Orleans, which, like Houston, limited starters to 31 or fewer minutes of playing time after it became clear the game would not be competitive.

NETS 111, BUCKS 105

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cam Johnson scored 29 points, Noah Clowney added 20 and Brooklyn rallied late for a victory over the Milwaukee.

Nic Claxton had 13 points for the Nets, who had lost eight of 10 before making 16 of 38 3-pointers against a Milwaukee squad that was playing a third straight game without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

With their top two scorers out, the Bucks got 21 points from Khris Middleton, 20 from Brook Lopez, 18 from Bobby Portis and 14 from Gary Trent Jr. while shooting 50.7% from the floor and 39.5% on 3-point attempts.

GRISSLIES 155, RAPTORS 126

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, Zach Edey also scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Memphis set a franchise scoring record in blowing out Toronto.

Desmond Bane added 19 points, Jaylen Wells scored 17 and Ja Morant had 15 points and nine assists as Memphis won for the third time in four games.

Toronto lost its ninth straight and fell to 1-14 on the road. RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 27 points, and Scottie Barnes added 26. Chris Boucher finished with 15.

Both teams played porous defense for three quarters and each had reached 100 points before the fourth started. A burst by Memphis in the third took the lead to 22.

The 155 points were the most given up by the Raptors this season.

TRAIL BLAZERS 122, JAZZ 120

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe each scored 27 points, and Scoot Henderson made a tiebreaking jumper with 0.1 seconds remaining as Portland Trail beat Utah.

Henderson finished with 18 points and 10 assists, Deandre Ayton added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Jerami Grant scored 14 points for Portland.

Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting to lead Utah. Collin Sexton added 19 points and Svi Mykhailiuk had 18 points.

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was away from the team following the recent death of his grandmother and will miss their next game against Dallas on Saturday as well. Assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren is filling in as acting head coach in Billups’ absence.

PISTONS 114, KINGS 113

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jaden Ivey converted a four-point play with 3 seconds left and Detroit rallied past Sacramento.

With the Pistons trailing by three, Ivey made a 3-pointer in the right corner and was fouled by De’Aaron Fox. Ivey hit the free throw to cap a 19-point comeback in the second half.

Fox missed a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.

Cade Cunningham scored 33 points to lead the Pistons. Malik Beasley added 22 off the bench, including six 3-pointers.

The Kings, who played without Domantas Sabonis (illness), led 68-53 at halftime after shooting 54% in the half.

Fox paced Sacramento with 26 points, and Trey Lyles had 20 off the bench.

Lyles had 15 at halftime. He scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter to spark a 17-4 run by the Kings, who jumped out to a 16-point lead in the period.

The Associated Press