Thunder Use 4th Quarter Surge to Beat Knicks
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to win their 14th straight game, 117-107 over the New York Knicks on Friday night.
Jalen Williams added 20 points and Aaron Wiggins scored 15 of his 19 points in the final period, when Oklahoma City erased an 88-80 deficit by outscoring the Knicks 37-19.
Isaiah Hartenstein, playing against his former team for the first time, contributed 14 rebounds, seven assists and four points for the Thunder (29-5), whose loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup championship game on Dec. 17 does not count in the standings.
Mikal Bridges scored 24 points for New York (25-10), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 17 points and 22 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 22 points, OG Anunoby scored 20 and Josh Hart had 19.
The game was the fourth in the NBA's 79-year history between teams on winning streaks of nine games or more.
New York led 66-54 at halftime. Oklahoma City outscored the Knicks 26-22 in the third quarter to trim the lead to single digits and set the stage for the team's third comeback in three games.
Knicks: New York allowed Oklahoma City to dictate the tempo in the fourth quarter.
Thunder: Oklahoma City put together big third quarters to rally for wins over Minnesota and the Clippers. They waited until the fourth to take control against the Knicks.
Oklahoma City trailed 97-92 midway through the fourth when Wiggins went to work, sparking a 25-10 run with three 3-pointers and a three-point play.
Oklahoma City made 14 of 27 3-pointers (51.9%) compared to 9 of 32 (21.8%) for New York.
The Knicks visit Chicago on Saturday, and the Thunder host Boston on Sunday.