Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 50 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 140-109 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
It was the third 50-plus-point game of Gilgeous-Alexander’s career, all of them coming over the past seven games.
Phoenix led by 12 late in the second quarter but was outscored 43-16 in the third
The Thunder have won three consecutive games by an average of 31.3 points.
The Suns, who were playing without Kevin Durant for the 11th time this season, have dropped three consecutive games and four of their last five. Durant was listed as being sidelined due to an ankle injury amid trade rumors ahead of the Thursday trade deadline.
The Suns are 1-10 this season when Durant doesn’t play.
With Gilgeous-Alexander sitting at 46 points and Oklahoma City leading by 25 after a dominant third quarter, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault opted to leave the All-Star in to begin the fourth.
Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the fourth quarter of each of Oklahoma City’s previous two games with the Thunder holding comfortable leads.
It didn’t take Gilgeous-Alexander long to reach the 50-point mark, hitting a pullup jumper less than two minutes into the final quarter and then sinking a baseline shot on Oklahoma City’s next possession.
At the next timeout, Gilgeous-Alexander’s night was done.
Early on, the Suns thrived against Oklahoma City’s NBA-best defense.
Phoenix shot 60.5 percent from the floor in the first half and went up 57-45 when Devin Booker sank two free throws with 4:06 left in the second quarter.
That lead nearly evaporated with a 16-6 run — the last 13 of those Oklahoma City points by Gilgeous-Alexander — to close the period.
The Thunder scored the first 13 points of the second half to begin to pull away.
The Suns were just 1 of 13 from the field in the third and missed all five of their 3-point attempts.
Bradley Beal, a big factor in Phoenix’s early success, scored 25 off the bench to lead the Suns. Booker added 19 points, and Royce O’Neale had 18.
Oklahoma City got 17 points from Aaron Wiggins and 13 from Jalen Williams.
–Field Level Media
