OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City didn’t have star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander towards San Antoni. Jalen Williams’ spot-on imitation was ok.
Williams scored a season-high 27 factors and the Thunder overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to hand the Spurs their ninth straight loss, 119-111 on Wednesday night time.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s No. 3 scorer with 31.1 factors per sport, sat out with a bruised hip. Williams stepped up, scoring 20 factors on 8-for-8 capturing within the second half.
“He was big-time,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault mentioned. “He was really good. Continues to get better.”
Williams even hit a clutch jumper like Alexander typically does. With the Thunder up 113-111, Williams’ brief pullup jumper bumped the lead to 4 with 30.8 seconds to play and put Oklahoma City in management for good. The 6-foot-6 guard made 11 of 15 pictures general and had six rebounds.
Daigneault mentioned Williams has nice potential.
“He strong, he’s tough, he’s smart and he’s got great length and size,” Daigneault mentioned. (*9*)
Lu Dort scored 23 factors and Josh Giddey added 14 factors and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
Devin Vassell scored 25 factors and Keldon Johnson added 19 for the Spurs, who shot 28% within the second half.
“The purpose we had in the first half – it just dissipated in the second half,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich mentioned.
San Antonio led 77-60 at halftime after capturing 64% from the sphere. Vassell scored 16 factors earlier than the break and Johnson added 13. The Spurs led 96-88 heading into the fourth.
A steal and layup by Tre Mann tied the sport at 98 early within the fourth quarter, and the sport was tight from there.
Daigneault mentioned the Thunder got here out with the precise strategy within the second half.
“We just had way more of a care factor, and we were way tougher,” he mentioned. “We shut the paint off, shut the glass off, contested everything. We were not as tough as we aspire to be at all in the first half.”
San Antonio shot simply 30.4% within the fourth quarter.
“Forty-eight minutes is a long time,” Popovich mentioned. “We’ve had a lot of good halves or 2 1/2 quarters and all that, but rarely have we put four quarters of fundamental, sound defense and basketball together. Part of it’s a young team. But they’re a young team too, and they did it. They deserve credit.”
NO SHEA
It was the second time this season the Thunder performed with out Gilgeous-Alexander. The first time, Oklahoma City misplaced to the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-106 within the third sport of the season.
LU DORT
Dort had considered one of his finest offensive video games of the season.
Oklahoma City’s No. 3 scorer for the season made 7 of 15 discipline objectives towards San Antonio, together with 3 of seven 3-pointers. He fell one level of his season excessive, which he had reached twice.
TIP-INS
Spurs: F Isaiah Roby, who began 62 video games for the Thunder the earlier two years, was cheered when he entered the sport. He completed with 4 factors and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes. … G Josh Richardson missed his fourth straight sport with a sprained proper ankle. … F Doug McDermott left the sport within the second half with ankle soreness.
Thunder: F/C Mike Muscala sat out with a fractured left pinky finger. … Made 12 of 23 discipline objectives within the third quarter to get again into the sport. … Mann scored 16 factors.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host New Orleans on Friday night time.
Thunder: At Minnesota on Saturday night time.
___
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
publish credit score to Source link