Gilgeous-Alexander scores 55 to lead Thunder past Pacers in 2 OT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 55 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their second straight double-overtime game to begin the season, beating the Indiana Pacers 141-135 on Thursday night in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals teams.
The reigning MVP reached 50 for the fifth time, tying Russell Westbrook for most by a Thunder player. Ajay Mitchell added a career-best 26 points for Oklahoma City, which outlasted Houston on Tuesday in its season opener.
Gilgeous-Alexander fueled the decisive flurry to open the second overtime. The officials also granted a late timeout to Oklahoma City when it appeared Obi Toppin had stolen the inbound pass underneath the Thunder basket.
Gilgeous-Alexander was 15 of 31 from the floor and 23 of 26 from the free throw line while adding eight rebounds and eight assists. Aaron Wiggins finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 14 rebounds.
Bennedict Mathurin had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers before fouling out in the first overtime. Pascal Siakam had 32 points and 15 rebounds for Indiana, which is without two-time All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton and backup point guard T.J. McConnell, then lost guard Andrew Nembhard with a sore left shoulder in the first half.
WARRIORS 137, NUGGETS 131, OT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 42 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation to help Golden State overcome Aaron Gordon’s career-high 50 points and beat Denver.
The Warriors went on a 12-2 run in overtime that started with a corner 3-pointer from Al Horford and featured a back-breaking one from Jimmy Butler that made it 133-127 with 41 seconds to play as Golden State got off to a 2-0 start this season.
Gordon broke Alex English’s franchise record for a season opener of 47 points set in 1985 against Golden State. Gordon’s 10 3-pointers tied Terry Rozier’s record set in 2020 for the most made in a season opener.
It was a dramatic end to regulation with Gordon hitting a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 25.7 seconds to play only to watch Curry tie it 4.3 seconds later with a long 3 of his own. Nikola Jokic then missed a shot in the lane just before the buzzer, sending the game to overtime, where the Warriors took control.
Jokic finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to join Oscar Robertson as the only players with four triple-doubles in season openers.
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