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Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC on the Brink of NBA Finals

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MINNEAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished 10 assists as the OKC Thunder escaped with a 128-126 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night in Minneapolis.

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Jalen Williams added 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting for Oklahoma City, which seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Chet Holmgren finished with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander sank 5 of 6 free-throw attempts in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points off the bench to lead Minnesota. Jaden McDaniels contributed 22 points, and Donte DiVincenzo finished with 21 points off the bench.

The series will shift back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Both teams battled in the final minutes as the Thunder staved off the Timberwolves’ comeback attempt.

 

Thunder Road Kill

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – OKC’s MVP in waiting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points to lead the hometown Thunder to a 105-92 home win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

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The Thunder extended their winning streak to a franchise-record 15. Oklahoma City’s winning streak is tied for the longest this season with Cleveland, which won 15 consecutive games to start the season.

Aaron Wiggins, the star of Oklahoma City’s fourth-quarter comeback against the Knicks on Friday, scored 15 points off the bench. Luguentz Dort had 14, Cason Wallace added 13 and Jalen Williams put up 10.

The Thunder tightened things up defensively after giving up 65 first-half points, holding the defending champions to just 27 points in the second half. Boston hadn’t scored fewer than 44 points in a half this season.

The Celtics were just 8 of 40 (20 percent) from the field in the second half.

Jayson Tatum had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Boston, whose three-game winning streak was snapped. Brown added 21 points — all in the first half. Brown was 0 for 7 from the floor after halftime. Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and nine boards.

Oklahoma City improved to 11-0 against the Eastern Conference this season.

The Thunder trailed by as many as 13 in the game and 11 in the second half before they fought their way back. Gilgeous-Alexander, who also finished with 11 rebounds and six assists, had his hands all over a 9-0 Thunder run in the fourth quarter that turned the tide.

The Thunder took the lead on a pair of Gilgeous-Alexander free throws, before Dort’s steal and dunk put them up 89-85.

After a Boston miss, Gilgeous-Alexander drained a step-back 3-pointer over Jrue Holliday to stretch the lead to seven. Two possessions later, he blocked Tatum’s shot at the rim, then found Isaiah Hartenstein for an alley-oop dunk in traffic.

OKC is Ready for Celtics

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cut off the question before it was finished.

The Oklahoma City Thunder star was asked if there was any extra motivation when the Thunder hosts Boston on Sunday.

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The Thunder are riding a franchise-record 14-game winning streak, while the Celtics are the defending NBA champions.

“Absolutely,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Absolutely. They won and we’re trying to win.”

The Thunder have trailed each of the last three games by at least 12 points before coming back to win, including overcoming a 14-point deficit in Friday’s 117-107 home win over the Knicks.

The Thunder are amid a four-game stretch against the top three teams from the Eastern Conference.

Oklahoma City is 10-0 against the Eastern Conference, though it fell to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup final that doesn’t count in the regular-season standings.

After dropping four of their previous nine games, the Celtics enter Sunday’s game on a three-game winning streak.

The last two have come to start a four-game road trip.

“We had a good meeting before this trip, just a little bit like looking-in-the-mirror type of meeting and see where we can improve and what we can do better,” Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis said. “Teams are obviously coming for us and some of them are playing their best basketball against us.”

During the winning streak, the Celtics are shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and have posted a 133.6 offensive rating — points scored per 100 possessions — and a 103.3 defensive rating. Both marks are best in the NBA over that span.

“December didn’t go the way we wanted to,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum said. “We’re trying to get back to our identity of who we are on both ends of the floor.”

Oklahoma City has the NBA’s best defense, with a 102.9 defensive rating.

During the Thunder’s winning streak, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.7 points, 5.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.2 blocks.

“Big challenge,” Porzingas said of facing Gilgeous-Alexander. “They have great guys that can support him also, so we can’t just focus on him alone. But we’ll see. It’ll be a fun matchup for sure.”

While Gilgeous-Alexander sets the tone and Jalen Williams is making a case for an All-Star berth, Oklahoma City has shown it can win in a variety of ways.

In Friday’s game, Aaron Wiggins scored 15 fourth-quarter points to key the comeback while Isaiah Hartenstein had a handful of critical plays at both ends down the stretch.

“We’re a very deep team, a team full of high-level basketball players, professionals, hoopers, that do whatever it takes to win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have so many different looks, so many different lineups, and we all just want to win at the end of the day. Nothing comes before that.”

Porzingis returned Friday after missing four games with a left ankle sprain.

Boston star Jaylen Brown has missed the last two games with a shoulder strain while Al Horford figures to return Sunday after missing Friday’s win due to rest on the second night of a back-to-back.

–Field Level Media