By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points and made a key 3-pointer with 3:34 left, Jalen Williams added 22 points and six assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the determined Golden State Warriors, 124-112, on Tuesday night, Dec. 2.
Chet Holmgren hit a go-ahead 3 from the top with 6:02 remaining and finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for the defending champions.
Brandin Podziemski scored 17 points and Seth Curry added 14 in his Warriors debut with older brother Stephen Curry sidelined for a second straight game because a bruised left quadriceps and muscle strain sustained last Wednesday against Houston.
Pat Spencer’s putback with 2:26 left in the third got Golden State to 81-79 then his 3 the next time down made it a one-point game — and he matched his career high with 17 points to go with six assists. Podziemski’s buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the third pulled the Warriors within 91-88.
Jimmy Butler didn’t play the second half for Golden State because of a sore left knee. He started despite being questionable because of a bruised left glute muscle after a hard fall in Saturday’s win against the Pelicans. He then cut awkwardly under the basket and lost his left shoe midway through the second quarter, limping afterward.
Gilgeous-Alexander, averaging 32.5 points, scored nine over the final 1:16 of the second quarter to put Oklahoma City ahead 63-44 at halftime. The Thunder (21-1) handed the Warriors just their third home defeat.
Seth Curry received a warm ovation when he checked in for the closing moments of the first quarter after re-signing with the team Monday. He was with Golden State for training camp then waived for financial reasons with the plan to bring him back.
There were more cheers when he made a jumper at the 8:24 mark of the second quarter for his first points.
Gary Payton II had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists for Golden State while Draymond Green and Buddy Hield also scored 13.
Meanwhile in Boston, Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 42 points, sealing the game with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds as the Celtics beat the New York Knicks 123-117 in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinal.
Derrick White scored seven of his 22 points in the last four minutes, after the Celtics turned back a New York charge that cut a 15-point deficit to 102-99. Jordan Walsh had six points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter for Boston.
Mikal Bridges scored 17 of his 35 points in the fourth and went 8 for 12 from 3-point range overall. Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 for the Knicks, who had won four in a row.
Boston has won four of its last five games, beating four of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks took off to a 17-4 lead and led 39-25 before Boston scored the next 12 points and later scored seven in a row, taking a 47-46 lead on Brown’s dunk that woke up the crowd. Brown scored 18 points in the second quarter and 15 in the third.
Boston led by 18 after three and had a 102-87 advantage with eight minutes left before Bridges hit a 3-pointer and followed it with three free throws, then made another 3 to make it 102-99 and finish off a 12-0 run.
But Boston came out of a timeout with Josh Minott’s 3-pointer, then Walsh scored on back-to-back putbacks to give the Celtics an eight-point lead. Bridges hit a 3 to make it a four-point game with 46 seconds left, but he missed one on New York’s next possession with a chance to cut the deficit to one.
