Oklahoma City’s Shay Gilgos Alexander scored 37 points, while Josh Geddy’s stellar second season in the NBA continued as the Thunder avenged a 19-point loss on New Year’s Eve to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers fell 133-114 to the Oklahoma City Thunder to lose ground to Cleveland in the battle for fourth in the East.
After grabbing his sixth triple-double in his final start, Jedi finished with 20 points—11 coming in the fourth quarter—on seven of 14 shots, as well as eight assists, four rebounds, and a steal in 36 minutes.
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This was the sixth time in his past 10 games that Jedi had reached the 20-point mark. He has now averaged 18.8 points from his past eight games.
The Thunder’s victory improved their record to 19-23, meaning they are now on target for a playoff berth.
“It shows we belong,” Gedi told reporters after the match.
“You see a lot of teams pit their best players against us, but we’ve shown that we can compete with the best teams in the league when we come from the jump.”
For Philadelphia, Joel Embiid scored 30 points—including 10-of-10 at the free throw line—and pulled down 10 rebounds. It was his third straight game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and a 100 free throw percentage.
According to ESPNEmbiid became only the second player in NBA history—after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975—to record 30 points, 10 rebounds, and a 100 free throw percentage in three consecutive games.
Despite the efforts of Embiid and fellow 76ers James Harden (24 points and 15 assists), the Thunder connected 51.2 percent of their shots from the field, including 14 3-pointers, to pull off the upset.
Lillard’s half century is not enough for Portland
In Portland, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points as the Cavaliers led a 50-point performance from Damien Lillard in a 119-113 victory over the Trail Blazers.
Mitchell’s quick shot with 4:40 to play put Cleveland ahead for the first time in the game and they held on for victory.
Jarrett Allen added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland and Ricky Rubio scored nine points in his first game in over a year.
Rubio has been out of action since he tore his left knee ligaments in December 2021.
“I think it gave us an extra boost,” Allen said of Rubio’s return. “Seeing him finally here… It’s such a joy for all of us.”
The Cavs consolidated their hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers
Nets fall in the first game since the KD strike
The Boston Celtics cruised to a 109-98 win over Brooklyn on Thursday, pulling away late to extend their NBA record and extend the distance over the Nets at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Celtics star Jason Tatum had a tough night shooting 7-for-22 on his way to 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points each for the Celtics, who learned shortly before the contest that Jaylen Brown — who scored 41 points in Boston’s win over New Orleans on Wednesday — would be sidelined with a pulled muscle in his right adductor muscle.
Meanwhile, the Nets were playing their first game since superstar Kevin Durant faltered from a win over Miami due to a right knee ligament sprain, which is expected to sideline him for several weeks.
Smith and Barclay catch fire over Simmons | 01:04
Led by 24 points from Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn handled impressively through the first three quarters, leading a back-and-forth battle by as many as nine points in the first half and by about five in the third before Boston pulled away. .
The Celtics connected on 10 of 25 shots from the field in the fourth quarter and tightened their defense, holding the scoring to 16 points in the period on six of 19.
“We go out and run, it’s hard for people to stop,” Smart said. “We managed to get back in the transition defensively and put our defense in place.”
The Celtics won their fifth straight game to take a 31-12 lead and extend their lead over the Nets at the top of the East to three games.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzola said before the game he didn’t know how long the Browns would be out, but hoped it wouldn’t be more than two weeks.
The Nets remained half a game ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks, who fell to the Heat 102-108 in Miami.
BUCKS CLAIM BATTLE WALKING WOUNDED
In Miami, the Milwaukee Bucks fell to the Heat 102-108.
Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 28 points, Bam Adebayo added 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Jimmy Butler had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat against injury-hit teams.
The Bucks, who were among the multiple absentees, led two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo by 15 in the second quarter, but the Heat tied the game before halftime.
Ross and Luka get in on it! | 00:41
Miami opened the fourth quarter 7-0 and didn’t trail in the final period.
One night after they set an NBA record by making all 40 of their free throw attempts, the Heat made 15 of their 16 attempts from the foul streak—running their streak of free throws to 55 before Butler missed one with less than 30. a second. stay.
in another place
– Pascal Siakam scored 35 points in Toronto’s 124-114 win over Charlotte, who had 32 points, seven assists from LaMelo Ball.
Dallas star Luka Doncic scored a 35-point triple-double, twice forcing overtime with three-pointers as the Mavericks beat the Lakers 119-115 in their NBA game in Los Angeles.
– With AFP
Latest nba results
Oklahoma City Thunder 133 Philadelphia Seventy Sixers 114
109- Masoud Brooklyn Nets 98
Milwaukee Bucks 102- Miami Heat 108
Charlotte Hornets 114- 124
119- Mavericks Los Angeles Lakers 115
Cleveland Cavaliers 119 Portland Trail Blazers 113