Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drained the go-ahead fallaway jumper with 2.6 seconds left and then helped produce a defensive stop just before the buzzer Sunday night for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who outlasted the host New York Knicks 113-112.
Jalen Brunson hit a contested layup with 4.1 seconds left to give the Knicks the lead. After a Thunder timeout, Josh Giddey sent an in-bounds pass to Gilgeous-Alexander, who dribbled once to shake Miles McBride before he turned and sank a shot from deep in the left corner.
Following a Knicks timeout, Donte DiVincenzo got the ball to Brunson, who was covered by Gilgeous-Alexander. Brunson’s turnaround jumper bounced off the top of the rim as time expired.
Brunson’s miss capped a wild fourth quarter in which the Thunder overcame a 10-point deficit and shot 15 of 19 from the field but just 3-for-8 from the free-throw line.
The Knicks trailed by as many as eight in the fourth, when they were 7-for-23 from the field and 10 of 17 from the line. The teams combined for five lead changes.
Giddey (16 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) had a triple-double while Jalen Williams scored a game-high 33 points for the Thunder (52-22), who won for the sixth time in eight games and moved into first place in the Western Conference by virtue of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 109-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed the previous two games with a bruised right thigh, finished with 19 points.
Brunson scored 30 points but missed a potential game-winner in the waning seconds for the second straight game. He missed a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining in Friday night’s 130-126 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Josh Hart (13 points, 15 rebounds) and Isaiah Hartenstein (17 points, 12 rebounds) each recorded a double-double while McBride had 19 points. DiVincenzo added 15 points for the Knicks (44-30), who missed a chance to move into third place in the Eastern Conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers (45-30) fell to the Denver Nuggets, 130-101, earlier Sunday.
–Field Level Media
