By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points, Chet Holmgren had 19 points and nine rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 123-115, on Sunday night, Nov. 30, for their 12th straight victory.
The Thunder move to 20-1 with the win, their only loss coming against the Trail Blazers on Nov. 5.
In his second game back from wrist surgery, Jalen Williams had 16 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes.
Deni Avdija finished with 31 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists for Portland. Toumani Camara had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Jerami Grant scored 18 points.
Holding a 76-74 lead, the Thunder unsuccessfully challenged Holmgren’s fourth foul with 5:00 left in the third quarter. He returned to start the fourth quarter but picked up his fifth foul. Portland cut the lead to 95-93 before Holmgren returned with 8:08 left.
That’s when the Thunder regained control. A layup by Kenrich Williams pushed the lead to 102-93 with 6:53 left. Williams made it 105-96 on a 3-pointer a little more than a minute later.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s fadeaway pushed Oklahoma City ahead 107-100 with 4:18 to go.
Portland got back within two points 107-105 with 2:58 left, but the Thunder led by Gilgeous-Alexander used their experience to close out the game.
Offense flowed for both teams in the second quarter, with both shooting over 40% from the 3-point line and 50% from the field. Grant’s 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds remaining gave Portland a 55-54 halftime lead.
The Thunder were without Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Luka Doncic scored 20 of his 34 points in the first quarter and the Lakers raced to their seventh straight victory, 133-121, over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Doncic also had 12 rebounds and seven assists to help the Lakers win for the 13th time in 15 games. Austin Reaves added 33 points and eight assists, Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Rui Hachimura scored 14 points.
LeBron James sau out to rest a sore left foot. He made his season debut Nov. 18 and played in four games after recovering from sciatica.
Saddiq Bey had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Bryce McGowens added 23 points for the Pelicans. They have lost 11 of 12.
New Orleans was short-handed with Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Trey Murphy III (elbow) watching from the bench.
The Lakers dominated the first half, leading 46-27 after one quarter and 77-57 at the half. It was the most points the Lakers had scored in any quarter this season and tied for the fifth most in an opening quarter in franchise history. The 77 first-half points matched the Lakers’ most in a half this season, The Pelicans found their offense in the third quarter, shooting 62.5% from the floor in the period and pulling to 100-89.
