Thunder 139, Trail Blazers 77
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Josh Giddey had a triple-double and the Oklahoma City Thunder passed the Portland Trail Blazers with a 62-point victory that matched the fifth-largest rout in the NBA history.
Oklahoma City shattered its previous winning margin record of 45 points, set twice during the 2012-13 season. The Thunder found themselves tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the Western Conference with a 26-11 record.
The Thunder were on the wrong end of the NBA’s biggest blowout, losing by 73 to Memphis on December 2, 2021. This was the Trail Blazers’ second-worst loss, having lost by 65 to Indiana on February 27 1998.
Jalen Williams scored 21 points, Chet Holmgren added 19 and Giddey had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his ninth career triple-double as the Thunder shot 57% from the field. It was a complete victory for an Oklahoma City team that was coming back from Wednesday night’s win at Miami at 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
MILWAUKEE — Bobby Portis and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined to score 20 straight points during a 25-0 spurt midway through the first half and Milwaukee beat NBA-leading Boston.
Portis scored 28, Antetokounmpo added 24 and both players pulled down 12 rebounds to help the Bucks win for just the second time in six games. Damian Lillard scored 21 points in his return to Milwaukee’s lineup after missing the Bucks’ 132-116 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday due to personal reasons.
The Bucks led by 43 points during Jrue Holiday’s return to Milwaukee, and their 75-38 lead at the break was their fourth-largest halftime advantage in franchise history. The Bucks hadn’t played a game since Monday, while the Celtics were back in action a night after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 in overtime.
Boston allowed its highest point total of the season and rested all of its starters for the entire second half. The Bucks did not play any of their starters in the fourth quarter.
PARIS — Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 45 points and Cleveland beat Brooklyn in the NBA’s third regular-season game in Paris.
Mitchell’s fast start propelled the Cavaliers to a lead they would never lose and he scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, making four 3-pointers after going 0 of 6 from three, to prevent the Nets from coming back after cutting a 26.-point deficit to single digits.
Caris LeVert added 21 points in Cleveland’s first game outside of North America of the regular season, while Jarrett Allen had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his career-high eighth straight double-double. The Cavaliers won their fourth straight game, improving to 9-3 since December 16.
Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas each scored 26 points for the Nets, who matched their worst half of the season with 34 points in the first half and lost 12 of 15. Lonnie Walker IV added 20 points.
Mavericks 128, Knicks 124
DALLAS — Kyrie Irving scored 44 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 32 in his fifth start of the season and short-handed Dallas, playing without superstar Luka Doncic and two other starters, held off a late charge to beat New York.
After Irving had 20 in the third quarter, the Mavericks led 115-96 with 7:19 to play before the Knicks pulled within 121-120 with 1:08 left on Donte DiVicenzo’s 3-pointer.
Josh Green made a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left for the last of his 18 points after three Dallas offensive rebounds for a 124-120 lead. Irving and Hardaway hit four free throws in the final 11.1 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Dallas native Julius Randle led the Knicks with 32 points. Jalen Brunson, playing in Dallas for the first time since leaving the Mavericks in free agency in July 2022, scored 30. DiVincenzo scored 19, but the Knicks lost for the first time in six games since l Acquisition of OG Anunoby from Toronto on December 30.
