Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren combined for 76 points Saturday as the Thunder erased an 18-point deficit to beat Golden State 130-123 in overtime, handing the Warriors a sixth straight NBA defeat.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 of his 40 points in overtime and rookie Holmgren’s 36 points included a turnaround three-pointer with seven-tenths of a second left in regulation to force the extra session.
Andrew Wiggins had put Golden State up 117-114 with a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left, but Holmgren responded and the Thunder out-scored the Warriors 13-6 in overtime.
Wiggins scored a season-high 31 points and Stephen Curry added 25 in his return from a strained right knee.
With Draymond Green still serving his five-game suspension for a choke-hold on Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert, the Warriors fell to 1-6 at home.
The contest was part of a pulsating night of NBA action. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 40 points and the Milwaukee Bucks used a massive 43-point fourth quarter to finally put away the Dallas Mavericks 132-125.
The Miami Heat’s seven-game winning streak came to an end with an agonizing 102-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls, and San Antonio’s losing streak stretched to eight games despite another big night from Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs again squandered a big lead in a 120-108 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
In Milwaukee, the Bucks were pushed to the limit by a Mavs team trying to wrest the Western Conference lead from the Denver Nuggets.
Instead it was the Minnesota Timberwolves joining Denver atop the conference after a 121-120 come-from-behind victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
A back-and-forth first half that saw the Bucks lead by as many as 11 and the Mavs by as many as five, ended with Milwaukee up 60-58.
Dallas star Kyrie Irving scored 18 of his 39 points in the Mavs’ 40-point third quarter, but Milwaukee responded in the final frame.
Down by 10 with 9:04 remaining, the Bucks authored a 15-4 scoring run to take the lead, Antetokounmpo driving for a layup and draining a pair of free-throws to cap the run.
Damian Lillard, fouled by Irving on a three-pointer with 4:34 remaining, made all three of the free throws and Milwaukee pulled away.
Antetokounmpo finished with 40 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Lillard added 27 points and 12 assists.
Doncic scored 36 for Dallas, but the Bucks bench, led by 16 points from Pat Connaughton out-scored the Mavs reserves 46-31.
“Anything to win,” Connaughton said, adding that the key to closing it out was “Competitiveness. We’ve got guys that compete. Period.”
Added Bucks coach Adrian Griffin: “We’re building something special. You can feel it. I thought it was a great character game.”
Bulls douse Heat
In Chicago, DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points to lead the Bulls’ rally against the Heat—who had built a 22-1 lead in little more than six minutes but couldn’t make it stand up.
Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points as all five Bulls starters scored in double figures.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 for Miami, who led all the way until Alex Caruso’s three-pointer with 51.8 seconds remaining put Chicago ahead.
DeRozan’s turnaround basket put the Bulls ahead for good with 21.9 seconds to go.
The Minnesota Timberwolves stunned the short-handed Pelicans 121-120 in New Orleans, where Karl-Anthony Towns driving basket with 5.2 seconds remaining sealed the come-from-behind victory.
“I was just kind of looking at my options as time was running down,” Towns said of the game-winner. “I had a clear mind and felt pretty good when I got the ball that I was going to make the shot.”
The Pelicans had led most of the night despite the absence of All-Star power forward Zion Williamson, who was resting on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Pelicans were already missing injured Larry Nance and CJ McCollum, who is still recovering from a partially collapsed lung.
Despite the absentees, New Orleans led by 14 with eight minutes left to play.
Ingram led all scorers with 30 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 26 for the Pelicans.
Towns led the Timberwolves with 29 points, Edwards added 23 and Rudy Gobert contributed 17 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
In San Antonio, Spurs rookie Wembanyama scored 19 points with 13 rebounds and a stunning eight blocked shots.
But Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 27 points to help the Grizzlies erase a 19-point deficit.
