Oklahoma City crushes Trail Blazers, 139-77, led by Gilgeous-alexander
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-alexander scored 31 points, Josh Giddey had a tripledouble and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Portland Trail Blazers 139-77 on Thursday night, a 62-point victory that matched the fifth-largest rout in NBA history.
Oklahoma City shattered its previous record for victory margin of 45 points, set twice during the 2012-13 season. The Thunder moved into a tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the Western Conference at 26-11.
The Thunder were on the wrong end of the NBA’S biggest blowout, losing by 73 to Memphis on Dec. 2, 2021. It was the Trail Blazers’ second-worst loss, having fallen by 65 to Indiana on Feb. 27, 1998.
Jalen Williams scored 21 points, Chet Holmgren added 19 and Giddey had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his ninth career triple-double as the Thunder shot 57% from the field. It was a complete victory for an Oklahoma City team that returned from Wednesday night’s win at Miami at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning.
Portland’s Anfernee Simons scored 14 points and Scoot Henderson had 13 on 4-for-21 shooting. The Trail Blazers shot just 27.7% from the field.
Henderson scored the first five points of the game before the Thunder responded with a 22-2 run to take control. The highlight of the run was an odd basket by Holmgren. He drove to the rim on a fast break and was basically tackled from behind by Portland’s Jerami Grant. Somehow, Holmgren threw the ball up over his shoulder and into the hoop to give Oklahoma City an 18-7 lead.
Oklahoma City dominated from there, stretching the lead to 75-39 at halftime. Portland’s frustration boiled over when Shaedon Sharpe and coach Chauncey Billups both were called for technical fouls with 1:45 left in the second quarter.
The Thunder kept it going in the second half. Giddey threw a pass like a quarterback nearly the length of the court and found Williams for a layup to put the Thunder up 86-46. Oklahoma City outscored the Trail Blazers 43-17 in the third quarter to take a 118-56 edge into the fourth.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit Minnesota on Friday.
Thunder: Host Orlando on Saturday.
BUCKS, 135, CELTICS 102
MILWAUKEE — Bobby Portis and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined to score 20 straight points during a 25-0 spurt midway through the first half and the Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a 135102 victory over the Nba-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
Portis scored 28, Antetokounmpo added 24 and both players had 12 rebounds to help the Bucks win for just the second time in six games. Damian Lillard chipped in 21 points while returning to Milwaukee’s lineup after missing the Bucks’ 132-116 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday for personal reasons.
The Bucks led by as many as 43 points in Jrue Holiday’s return to Milwaukee, and their 75-38 lead at the break was their fourth-biggest halftime advantage in franchise history. The Bucks hadn’t played a game since Monday, while the Celtics were back in action one night after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 in overtime.
Boston allowed its highest point total of the season and rested all its starters for the entire second half. The Bucks didn’t play any of their starters in the fourth quarter.
Payton Pritchard scored 21 and Sam Hauser 15 for the Celtics, who missed 16 of their first 17 3-point attempts and ended up going 9 of 34 from beyond the arc. Milwaukee shot 56.5% overall and was 18 of 42 on 3-point attempts.
After Boston’s Oshae Brissett dunked to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 31-23 with 2:14 remaining in the first quarter, the Celtics wouldn’t score again for over 6 1/2 minutes. Boston’s drought finally ended when Jaylen Brown dunked with 7:38 left in the second period.
Portis scored 13 points and Antetokounmpo had seven during that 25-0 spurt.
After Portis scored eight of the last 10 points in the first quarter to extend Milwaukee’s lead to 41-23, the Bucks scored 15 straight points to open the second period.
Portis, who had been 1 of 12 from 3-point range this month, was 5 of 6 from beyond the arc on Thursday.
Holiday scored six points and shot 2 of 9 in his first game at Milwaukee since the Bucks traded him in September as part of the package to acquire Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland sent him to the Celtics a few days later.
Holiday played for the Bucks from 2020-23 and was part of their 2021 championship team. He had faced his former team once already this season, when the Celtics beat the Bucks 119-116 in Boston on Nov. 22.
Holiday received a standing ovation when a tribute video aired on the Fiserv Forum scoreboard during the game’s first timeout.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Host the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Bucks: Host the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.