Gilgeous-Alexander has 35, leads Thunder past Cavs 112-100

OKLAHOMA CITY(AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, his fourthconsecutive game with at least 30, and the Oklahoma City Thunderbeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-100 on Friday night.

Gilgeous-Alexander made 12 of 21 shots and added eight assists andfive rebounds. Jalen Williams added 17 points and made all three ofhis 3-point attempts.

“Much betterthan the first time we played them,” Oklahoma City coach MarkDaigneault said of a 110-102 loss in December.

“I thoughtthe guys played with great force. The physicality tonight, you’renot beating a team like that the way that we did unless you’rephysical. And I thought we were physical on both ends.”

DariusGarland had 31 points and 13 assists for Cleveland, which playedagain without All-Star Donovan Mitchell because of a groininjury.

The Thunderwon for the sixth time in eight games as they contend for a WesternConference play-in berth, while the Cavaliers finished theirthree-game road swing at 30-21.

“They justmade more plays than we did,” said Cleveland coach J.B.Bickerstaff. “I give them credit, that’s who they are. They’re ateam that plays the entire 48, no matter what’s happening. As abasketball fan, it’s fun to watch.”

Oklahoma Cityjumped out to an early lead before Cleveland’s imposing frontcourtof Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen slowed Oklahoma City’s attack.

Cleveland led54-47 at halftime, despite shooting an abysmal 3 of 16 from 3-pointrange.

The Thundererased the deficit to enter the fourth quarter tied at 78 andoutscored Cleveland 34-22 in the final 12 minutes to run away withthe win.

Josh Giddeyhad 15 points for the Thunder, which included a crafty reverselayup to put the Thunder ahead 83-81 with nine minutes remaining.Oklahoma City never lost its lead.

“Defensively,we were locked in and executed what we wanted to,” Giddey said. “Wespoke prior to the game, we knew they were the best defense in theleague. They’ve got a lot of length in the frontcourt. We knewgetting stuff at the rim wasn’t going to be easy, so guys made theright plays. … We did a lot of really good things down the stretchthere and that’s a really good team. So, I think the way we closedthat game out shows we’re trending in the right direction.”

The Thundershot 52.6% from the floor, while Cleveland finished at 44.3% andmade just 8 of 29 attempts from 3. Oklahoma City outreboundedCleveland 46-37.

TIP-INS

Thunder:Aaron Wiggins scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards. TheThunder are now 8-0 when Wiggins starts. … Starting guard Lu Dort,who’s averaging 14.1 points and 4.2 rebounds this season, missedFriday’s game with a hamstring injury. … Daigneault drew his thirdtechnical foul of the season following Cleveland’s early 10-0 run,which erased the Thunder’s early 12-4 advantage.

Cavaliers:The Cavaliers were also without Kevin Love (back). ... Ricky Rubiotook Friday night off after playing 17 minutes in a 113-95 win overthe Rockets on Thursday. … Mobley surpassed 1,000 career reboundsin just his second NBA season.