Thunder start slow, end Knicks’ 3-game win streak

NEW YORK — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Hamidou Diallo scored a season-high 23 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame an ugly start to beat the New York Knicks 101-89 on Friday night.

Al Horford added 15 points and was practically the only offense early for the Thunder, who got almost nothing to fall at the start but got better as the game went along and improved to 4-1 on the road.

RJ Barrett scored 19 points for the Knicks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Julius Randle, scoreless in the first half, finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Oklahoma City came in scoring an NBAlow 102 points per game, the Knicks were 28th at 104.4, and those paltry stats seemed out of reach the way the game started.

The Thunder shot 20.8% in the first quarter — Horford had three of their five baskets — and trailed 24-15. But the Knicks managed just 18 in the second quarter and the game was tied at 42 at the half.

Gilgeous-Alexander was 6 of 7 for 12 points in the third quarter, when the Thunder opened a nine-point lead before Austin Rivers beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer that cut it to 69-63. The Thunder broke it open with an 11-3 spurt in the fourth, with Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-pointer making it 89-76.

TIP-INS

Thunder: Mark Daigneault coached his first NBA game at Madison Square Garden, but has been part of victories in the arena. He was a student manager at UConn from 2003-07 under Jim Calhoun, winning one Big East tournament title.