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Reuters and AP, New York
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points in three quarters, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 132-111 home win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
The Thunder have won 14 consecutive games and 22 of their first 23 to start the season.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 10 of 12 from the field while adding six assists and five rebounds. The reigning Most Valuable Player scored 16 of his points in the third quarter when Oklahoma City put the game away.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, center, drives against Dallas Mavericks guard Max Christie, left, during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City on Friday.
Photo: AP
The Mavericks’ three-game winning streak was snapped. Jaden Hardy led Dallas with 23 points off the bench, including 12 in the third quarter. Naji Marshall added 18 and Cooper Flagg 16.
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault inserted Jaylin Williams into the starting lineup to work to combat Dallas’ Anthony Davis. Williams helped hold Davis scoreless into the fourth quarter, and the star big man finished with two points on 1-of-9 shooting.
The Thunder scored on their final 10 possessions of the first half, stretching their lead to 15 entering half-time with a 20-8 run to end the second quarter.
The Thunder then kept pouring it on after half-time, starting the third with a 23-7 run to extend their lead to stretch their lead to 31.
The Mavericks immediately scored 11 consecutive points, but could not get closer than 20.
Dallas had a scary moment midway through the third when Davis went down grabbing his left knee after a collision with Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren.
Davis left the game but returned to start the fourth quarter, although the game was out of hand.
The biggest question for Dallas entering the fourth was whether or not Davis would score.
The Mavericks star missed his first eight shots — and missed two free throws — before finally getting on the board with a layup four minutes into the fourth quarter before exciting the game for good.
Jalen Williams and Holmgren finished with 15 points each for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City shot 56 percent from the floor and outscored the Mavericks 62-38 in the paint. The Thunder produced 18 points off Dallas’ 12 turnovers while turning the ball over just six times.
The Thunder keep on rolling without several members of their regular rotation. Isaiah Hartenstein, Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso remained out while Isaiah Joe missed this game as well.
Meanwhile, The New York Knicks jumped on the Utah Jazz for a 23-0 lead on Friday night, the largest game-opening run in the NBA since the league began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four quarters.
The Knicks pitched a shutout for half the first quarter and led by 28 by the time it was over.
Karl-Anthony Towns opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and when Jalen Brunson made one midway through the period, the Knicks had scored the first 23 points.
That was the most one team had before the other scored since the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for the entire game in 1997.
