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Thunder bounce back to down struggling Nets / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
NYSE - LSE
Thunder bounce back to down struggling Nets
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the scoring with 27 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder got back to winning ways with a 127-101 defeat of the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Gilgeous-Alexander -- who missed Friday's defeat to Dallas with a wrist injury -- added 10 assists and four steals to his points tally in a wire-to-wire home victory for the Western Conference leaders.
The Thunder seized control of the contest in a rampant first quarter, outscoring Brooklyn 39-19 and opening up a 29-point lead late in the game before strolling to victory.
The win extended the Thunder's lead at the top of the Western Conference to 6.5 games from second-placed Houston. Oklahoma City lead the conference with a 35-7 record.
The Denver Nuggets meanwhile stayed amongst OKC's chasing pack with a 113-100 defeat of the Orlando Magic in Florida.
Denver star Nikola Jokic bagged his 18th triple-double of the season in the win, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and three blocks.
The Nuggets trailed by 10 points midway through the second quarter but Denver took control in the third, outscoring Orlando 39-25 before stretching their lead to 24 points in the fourth quarter.
The win extended Denver's winning streak on the road to six games. The Nuggets are now 26-16 and stand in fourth place in the West.
In Milwaukee meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered a 30-point game for the third time in his past four outings, scoring 34 points in a 123-109 win over the injury-hit Philadelphia 76ers.
Damian Lillard finished with 25 points, 16 of them coming in a flurry of fourth quarter scoring as Milwaukee closed out victory.
The Sixers' Tyrese Maxey led the game scoring with 37 points but it was not enough to stop Philadelphia sliding to their sixth straight loss, with star forward Joel Embiid among those missing with injury.
"They had so many guys out injured -- give them credit, they hung in there," Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said of the Sixers.
Milwaukee improved to 24-17 with Sunday's victory and are fourth in the Eastern Conference table, 11 games off leaders Cleveland (35-6).
In Miami meanwhile, the Heat improved 21-20 for the season with a 128-107 rout of the San Antonio Spurs. Kel'el Ware led the Miami scoring with 25 points from the bench, while guard Duncan Robinson provided offensive support with 21 points.
But it was another disappointing outing from Miami's unsettled star Jimmy Butler.
Butler, who was handed a seven-game suspension earlier this month for indicating that he wanted to leave the franchise, finished with just eight points from 3-of-7 shooting.
In Los Angeles, Norman Powell scored 22 points and James Harden and Ivica Zubac added 21 points apiece as the Clippers overpowered the Los Angeles Lakers 116-102.
The 40-year-old LeBron James led the Lakers with 25 points but the Clippers were always in control after taking the lead in the first quarter and holding a comfortable double-digit advantage for most of the game.
N. Gonçalves--JDB
