Gilgeous-alexander paces Thunder to take 2-0 lead
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Chet Holmgren had 26 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Williams added 21 points for the top-seeded Thunder, who shot 59% from the field and made 14 of 29 3-pointers.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram added 18 each for the Pelicans.
New Orleans continued to struggle on offense without top scorer Zion Williamson, who remained out with a strained left hamstring.
In Game 1, Valanciunas had 20 rebounds, including nine offensive, and the Pelicans outrebounded the Thunder 52-44. On Wednesday, Oklahoma City outrebounded New Orleans 37-35 and held the Pelicans to eight offensive boards.
Game 3 will be Saturday in New Orleans.
Herro scores 24 in Heat’s Game 2 win
BOSTON — Tyler Herro had 24 points and 14 assists, hitting six of Miami's franchise playoffrecord 23 3-pointers, to lead the Heat to a 111-101 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night and tie their firstround playoff series at one game apiece.
Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and new Celtics nemesis Caleb Martin also had 21 points for the Heat, who shot 53.5% (23 of 43) from beyond the arc to bounce back after a Game 1 blowout. That broke Miami's playoff record of 20 3pointers, set against the Bucks in the 2021 first round.
The series moves to Miami for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
Bucks’ Middleton uncertain to play
Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton's status for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference firstround playoff series with the Indiana Pacers is uncertain after he hurt his ankle in the last game and didn't practice Thursday.
Middleton was limping in the first quarter of the Bucks' 125-108 Game 2 loss on Tuesday and briefly went into the locker room, but he returned after getting his right ankle re-taped and ended up playing 36 minutes.
Reid named Sixth Man of the Year
Naz Reid, who helped the Minnesota Timberwolves overcome an injury to Karl-anthony Towns to have one of the best seasons in franchise history, was voted the NBA'S Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday.
Reid edged Sacramento's Malik Monk to become the third undrafted player to win the award for the league's best reserve.
Reid averaged career highs of 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 81 games. The forward-center came off the bench 67 times and made 14 starts, including 12 when Towns was out late in the season. The Timberwolves finished 56-26 to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Reid got 45 first-place votes to 43 for Monk in a panel of voters. Both players had 39 second-place votes and 10 third-place votes, giving Reid a total of 352 points to Monk's 342.