By ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points in his return after missing nine games with an abdominal strain and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime Friday night, Feb. 27, in a testy matchup that featured multiple technical fouls and an ejection.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, didn’t play in overtime, but the Thunder still pulled through in the extra period.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who got into an altercation with Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort in the fourth quarter, had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Dort was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, listed as questionable with an illness before the game, led the Nuggets with 39 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander started and drew loud applause when his name was announced in pregame introductions. His first basket came on a driving layup two minutes into the game.
The teams are very familiar with each other — the Thunder defeated the Nuggets 4-3 in the Western Conference semifinals last year. The Thunder won the first two meetings this season and they play twice more.
This matchup was physical from the start. Gilgeous-Alexander was called for an early technical because he threw the ball at Jokic, who made contact with him after play stopped. Denver’s bench was called for a technical in the third quarter. There was plenty of talking and shoving throughout.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points in the first half, but Denver led 59-50 after making 11 of 20 3-pointers before the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 points in the third quarter to help the Thunder chip away, but the Nuggets took an 83-77 lead into the fourth.
The Thunder started off hot in the fourth quarter, and Dort’s 3-pointer finally put Oklahoma City up 86-85.
A few minutes later, Dort was ejected for a hard foul against Jokic that led to a scrum near midcourt and offsetting technicals on Jokic and Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams.
Fittingly, the tightly contested game went to overtime tied at 107.
Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson scored 27 points and OG Anunoby added 24 as the New York Knicks routed the Milwaukee Bucks 127-98 on Friday night, Feb. 27.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Landry Shamet added 15 points, Josh Hart finished with 12 and Mikal Bridges and Mohamed Diawara each had 10 for the Knicks, who shot 21 for 42 from 3-point distance.
Myles Turner had 18 of his 19 points in the first half, Kyle Kuzma scored 17, Bobby Portis 14 and Ryan Rollins 13 to pace the Bucks. Milwaukee had won eight of 10 coming in and was playing its fifth game in eight days, including four in a row at home. Kevin Porter Jr. chipped 11 points and 10 assists.
The Bucks entered the game as one of the hottest offensive team in the league, but it was the Knicks who controlled play early.
New York jumped out to a 38-30 lead after one quarter fueled by 22 points from Brunson, the most by a New York player in any quarter this season. Brunson made 9 of 10 shots, including all three 3-pointers he attempted. The Bucks shot 7 for 11 from deep in the quarter.
The Knicks opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to increase the lead to 16 and led 77-57 at the half while shooting 60%.
New York’s advantage increased to 24 points early in the third before the Bucks cut the deficit to 15 after a 9-0 run during which Brunson was whistled for a technical foul.
The Knicks hit the 100-point mark late in the third and extended their lead to 32 points in the fourth. The Bucks committed 16 turnovers that led to 19 points for the Knicks.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is practicing with the team, missed his 14th consecutive game due to a strained right calf.
Earlier, Jaylen Brown had 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Brooklyn Nets, 148-111.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double since joining the Celtics. Payton Pritchard added 22 points for Boston, which has won five of six since returning from the All-Star break.
The Celtics shot a season-high 66.7% from the field and connected on 22 3-pointers. They also got 77 points from their bench.
Michael Porter Jr. finished with 18 points for Brooklyn, which has lost seven straight games.
The Celtics took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Nets 43-26. Brooklyn managed only seven points over the final 6:23 of the period.
Boston shot 15 of 19 from the field with 12 assists in the pivotal quarter and connected 5 of 7 attempts from the 3-point line.
Boston’s lead grew to as many as 41 points in the fourth. The Celtics shot 62% from the field (24 of 39) and 60% from the 3-point line (12 of 20), yet only led 66-57 at halftime.
The Nets were able to stay close thanks to eighth Boston turnovers, which Brooklyn turned into 12 points, while Celtics had only four turnovers in the second half.
