Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 48 points and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted the host Detroit Pistons 113-107 on Saturday.
Cason Wallace had 20 points and Isaiah Hartenstein added 12 with 10 rebounds for the Thunder (55-12), who have won nine of their last 10.
Detroit All-Star Cade Cunningham was ejected late in the third quarter for arguing with the officials. He finished with 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. The Pistons were assessed a total of five technicals in the quarter.
Tobias Harris led the Pistons (37-31) with 18 points, while Dennis Schroder supplied 17 points and 11 assists.
The Thunder played without two starters. Forward Jalen Williams missed the game due to a hip strain, while big man Chet Holmgren was rested.
Oklahoma City built an 11-point lead in the first seven minutes. The Pistons nearly erased it before the quarter ended, going on an 11-1 run.
Malik Beasley gave Detroit the lead at 26-24 early in the second quarter with a 3-pointer. The Pistons soon built the advantage to 36-26.
That was the Pistons’ largest lead of the half. The Thunder gradually cut into it and Gilgeous-Alexander’s jumper tied it with 2:14 remaining in the quarter. His three-point play with 1:38 left put Oklahoma City on top 53-52.
The Thunder led 55-54 at the break behind Gilgeous-Alexander’s 20 points. He scored the first points of the second half on a 3-point shot, and his jumper with 8:11 left in the quarter gave Oklahoma City a 10-point advantage.
After Detroit cut the deficit in half, the Thunder had a 6-0 spurt for a 77-66 advantage. Gilgeous-Alexander made three free throws after the technicals to Cunningham and another to Schroder with 47 seconds left in the quarter. The Thunder had a 91-77 lead when the quarter ended.
The Pistons went on an 8-0 run early in the fourth to pull within six. When Beasley buried a 3-pointer with 4:16 remaining, Oklahoma City’s lead was down to one.
Gilgeous-Alexander answered with a 3-pointer. A couple more baskets by the Thunder star made it 106-100. After a Pistons basket, he set up Wallace for a 3-pointer.
–Field Level Media
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