FILE–Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Michael Reaves/Getty Images/AFP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander equaled his career high with 44 points while lifting the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 138-129 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 13 of 16 from the floor and made a career-high 18 free throws to lift the Thunder to their third win in four games and give Oklahoma City a winning three-game road trip (2-1).
The Trail Blazers lost for the third time in four games despite getting 38 points and nine assists from Damian Lillard.
With Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, Portland made a run to start the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points to take a 112-103 lead.
When the All-Star guard re-entered the game with about 10 minutes left, the Thunder’s fortunes turned around.
Oklahoma City reeled off a 16-2 run that ultimately stretched to a 33-9 surge to put the game away.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a #NBAAllStar for a reason
⭐️ 44 PTS
⭐️ 7 AST
⭐️ 2 STL
⭐️ 81% FG
⭐️ 63.1 FPTSHe is the first player in Thunder franchise history to record 40+ points on 80%+ shooting from the field. #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/ECoSDSX4Et
— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) February 11, 2023
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the fourth while adding three critical assists. He found Isaiah Joe for a 3-pointer that put the Thunder up by six with five minutes remaining, then found Luguentz Dort in the lane for a dunk.
Oklahoma City all but sealed the victory with two minutes remaining when Jalen Williams’ steal led Gilgeous-Alexander to feed the ball back to Williams for another cutting dunk in the lane to give the Thunder a 12-point lead.
Josh Giddey added 19 points for Oklahoma City while Dort, coming off the bench for the first time since his rookie season in 2019-20, added 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Dort had missed the past six games due to a hamstring injury.
Lillard and Gilgeous-Alexander went toe to toe from the start, with Lillard getting the upper hand early, scoring 20 in the first quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander kept Oklahoma City in the game, scoring 16 of his own as Portland led 35-33 after one.
The Thunder’s defense made things difficult on Lillard the rest of the way.
After going 5 of 6 from the floor in the first period and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line, Lillard was just 5 of 12 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line the rest of the way.
Cam Reddish, acquired in a Wednesday deal with the New York Knicks, started for Portland and finished with 11 points in 17 minutes.
Field Level Media
RELATED STORIES
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Read Next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Basketball News Click Here
