The Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the first step in their title defense and saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander extend his historic streak on Tuesday.
After becoming the first team to secure a playoff berth this season, the Thunder will attempt to earn their 10th straight victory and widen their lead atop the Western Conference when they face the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday in New York.
The Thunder clinched their third straight playoff spot by earning a 113-108 victory over the host Orlando Magic after taking an 18-point lead midway through the second quarter. It was Oklahoma City’s seventh win by single digits during its second-longest winning streak of the season.
“We’re proud of that,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s not easy. We won the championship last year, and I think that can warp the way that you look at other things like clinching a playoff spot or division titles — things that obviously are not as significant as a championship but that are very difficult to do nonetheless. So we’re proud of the accomplishment, and it’s something we don’t take for granted.”
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points for the sixth time this season and had 19 points in the third quarter. The star guard extended his NBA-record streak to 129 games with at least 20 points and did so in a game when the Thunder thrived in other areas.
Oklahoma City held an opponent under 50% for the ninth straight game, limiting Orlando to 39.8% accuracy. It was the second-lowest opposing field-goal percentage during the winning streak, and the Thunder withstood allowing 17 3-pointers by holding a 54-32 scoring advantage in the paint and a 53-41 rebounding edge.
“It’s a point of emphasis for us,” Gilgeous-Alexander, speaking about the rebounding, said in his on-court postgame interview with FanDuel Sports. “Every night the game is going to have a different task, a different challenge, and it’s our job. We get paid to execute the game plan and play at a high level and with utmost energy. We did that enough tonight to get a W. That’s what stacking W’s is about.”
The Nets are on a four-game losing streak and 2-14 in the past 16 games. The most recent two games saw Brooklyn fall behind big in the first half and attempt a comeback in the fourth quarter.
After nearly escaping a 28-point hole in a seven-point loss at Philadelphia on Saturday, Brooklyn gave up the first 10 points of its 114-95 home defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. The Nets trailed by as many as 31 in the third quarter but briefly cut the gap to 15 before falling short.
Michael Porter Jr., Brooklyn’s leading scorer, missed his third straight game due to a sprained right ankle and is listed as questionable for Wednesday. If he does play, he may wind up sitting in the fourth quarter, which is something the Nets did with Nic Claxton and Noah Clowney in recent games.
On Monday, rookie Danny Wolf was the only starter to appear in the fourth quarter as the Nets gave extensive playing time to rookies Ben Saraf, Chaney Johnson and Malachi Smith along with E.J. Liddell, Tyson Etienne and Ochai Agbaji.
Johnson led the Nets with a career-best 17 points in his fifth NBA game, while Saraf scored 10 of his career-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.
“He plays bigger than what he is,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said of Johnson, who is 6-foot-7. “His length, you know, he may get overlooked, but he can guard almost everybody. He is super active, super athletic. He can shoot the three, like, he does everything well, and he doesn’t try to do too much, and I think that always helps.”
