Oklahoma City Thunder edges out Golden State Warriors in another thrilling showdown

The games between Thunder and Warriors are on their way to becoming a classic. After a duel that Curry decided at the last second and another that went to overtime with a three-pointer at the buzzer by Holmgren, both teams once again played a heart-stopping match that once again required extra time to find a winner. And, this time by 138-136, they have fallen once again on OKC’s side.

The Oklahoma City team was led by an enormous Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who once again fought a power-to-power duel with Stephen Curry from which he managed to emerge as the winner. With 38 points, the Canadian finished the match as the top scorer, and was largely responsible for the change in dynamics that took place after a first half that was quite controlled by the visitors. With 12 of his goals in the third quarter, he was the main protagonist of the 33-22 partial that Daigneault’s team achieved in that period, and with another 11 in the last quarter and in overtime he prevented the victory from heading to San Francisco .

More NBAProblems grow in Golden State

The point guard was not very successful in his medium and long distance shots, but he managed to compensate for it with his ability to attack the zone and finish close to the basket. This was in fact an aspect in which the Thunder did a lot of damage, as they scored no more and no less than 78 points in the paint to bleed the visitors in this matter.

However, they managed to hold on to the duel with the help of Stephen Curry who rescued them when they were against the ropes and who, after a discreet clash in scoring, assumed honors at the moment of truth. The point guard had 14 points to his name when the last five minutes of the fourth quarter were reached, at which point he put his team on his back to, with 10 of the team’s last 15 points, put Golden State ahead. ahead with 18 seconds left.

However, Holmgren was once again in charge of forcing overtime, this time not with a triple but with three free throws resulting from a foul by Draymond Green, an action that sparked some controversy given that the power forward considered that the foul had been committed before Chet began the shooting action and therefore he should be awarded two throws from the personnel line, not three. The referees, however, did not see it that way, so the rookie He was able to tie the game and, after Curry missed a last three-pointer very well defended by Dort, force overtime.

More NBAList of top scorers in NBA history

In this one, Steph did not miss a shot and added another 10 points that gave life to Kerr’s team, but, against a Thunder with more weapons, his final emergence only served to confirm that, the more protagonist he is, the better for his team. Jonathan Kuminga and Klay Thompson supported him with 24 and 22 points respectively, but even then the Californians did not manage to avoid placing themselves with a balance of 10-12 that keeps them out of even the play-in positions.

Shai, for his part, found support in the 28 points of Jalen Williams, a great local reference in the last quarter with 12 points, and the 21 of Chet Holgrem, whose pulse once again did not tremble at the moment of truth. Oklahoma thus reaches 14 victories, consolidating itself in second position in the West and not letting the passing of the weeks distort the course of this exciting project.

(Cover photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

2023-12-09 09:00:00
#Shai #beats #Curry #overtime