NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 2 late treys lift Thunder past Nuggets

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, including a step-back 3-pointer in the closing seconds, to lift the Thunder to a 129-126 home win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

Moments earlier, it appeared Gilgeous-Alexander had secured the victory with another step-back 3-pointer, but a four-point play from Denver tied the game. Gilgeous-Alexander waited for his moment and then elevated over Spencer Jones to sink the decisive shot with 3.3 seconds left. The Nuggets had no time to respond.

The game-winning basket came on the same night Gilgeous-Alexander tied Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record with his 126th consecutive 20-point game. He also contributed nine rebounds and 15 assists.

Jaylin Williams added 29 points, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers, and dished out 12 assists to help the Thunder win without big men Chet Holmgren (flu) and Isaiah Hartenstein (calf). Ajay Mitchell, playing his first game since Jan. 21 after recovering from abdominal and ankle injuries, chipped in 24 points.

The rematch between the two teams was calmer than their previous meeting on Feb. 27 in Oklahoma City, which featured a technical foul on Gilgeous-Alexander for throwing the ball at Nikola Jokic and a late hard foul by Luguentz Dort that led to a brief scuffle. In Monday’s game, the only major incident came late when Dort was called for a flagrant foul after colliding with Jokic while the Nuggets star was setting a screen for Jamal Murray.

That sequence helped Denver close an eight-point deficit to just three with 1:05 remaining. Jokic cut the gap to one point with a floater with 31.2 seconds left. Gilgeous-Alexander then hit his first step-back 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds left to put the Thunder up by four.

Denver had a chance to tie after Williams was called for an off-ball foul, and Murray sank a free throw to make it 126-126 with 8.5 seconds left. After a timeout, Gilgeous-Alexander faced Jones in 1-on-1 coverage and nailed the game-winning shot.

Jokic finished with a triple-double of 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists, including 11 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Thunder from improving to 3-0 against the Nuggets this season. Denver’s Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points off the bench, while Aaron Gordon added 23 points and 10 rebounds, including 19 points in the first seven minutes of the game. -Field Level Media/Reuters