Thunder lose Jalen Williams, but hold off late Warriors surge
SAN FRANCISCO, California (KFOR) -- In a matchup of the Western Conference's top two teams, the Thunder squeaked out a 105-101 win over the Warriors.
Oklahoma City got off to a hot start, leading by 16 points after the first quarter, but things started to slow down for the team offensively after Jalen Williams exited the game just before halftime. Williams got hit in the eye, while trying to defend a Jonathan Kuminga dunk, and didn't return the rest of the game.
Golden State began to cut into OKC's 62-50 halftime lead, trailing by just one after the third quarter. A Kyle Anderson three to start the fourth quarter gave the Warriors their first lead since 9-6 early in the first quarter.
With OKC trailing by three late in the game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a pair of three's to put the Thunder back on top. With just seven seconds left and OKC leading by two, Andrew Wiggins had a chance to tie the game, but his shot missed and the Warriors were forced to foul Gilgeous-Alexander after he grabbed the rebound. SGA knocked down two free throws and the Thunder escaped the Chase Center with the win.
“Yeah we just, I think we were down four at that point. We knew if we wanted to come back in the game and win the game we had to get stops, and that’s what we kind of focused on," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "Our offense wasn't perfect, clearly. We didn't close the way we wanted to offensively for most of the quarter. But our defense gave us a chance, and we knew that was something we could control and that’s what we tried to focus on.”
Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 35 points, while adding 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Isaiah Joe had 17 points, Isaiah Hartenstein had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Jalen Williams had 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in 16 minutes before leaving with the eye injury.
"I thought the stops and the competitiveness really won the game for us. We were down four with five to go, and we really dug in on that end of the floor. Didn't really have much going offensively, and yet, we were able to kinda stop them from moving the scoreboard. I thought (Luguentz) Dort was great tonight again. (Andrew) Wiggins got going early in that game and ended with 17 points on 16 shots, or something like that, thought he was excellent there. It was a great win," said Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault.
The Warriors (12-6), without Stephen Curry, were led by Kuminga's 19 points. Former Oklahoma Sooner Buddy Hield had 17 points off the bench.
Oklahoma City (14-4) continues its road trip with a stop in Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Friday November 29th in an NBA Cup Group Play game.