Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder avenged their only loss of the season by beating Portland 122-95 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The host Thunder improved to an NBA-best 17-1 and stretched their win streak to nine games by defeating the Trail Blazers, who kept them from a perfect start with a 121-119 upset at Portland on November 5.<\/p>\n
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Gilgeous-Alexander made 13-of-18 shots from the floor, two-of-three from three-point range, and all nine of his free throws while adding seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.<\/p>\n
“He’s a killer and we know that,” teammate Ajay Mitchell said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “Seeing him in that zone is always a pleasure to watch.”<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City became only the fifth NBA team in the past 30 years to begin a campaign 17-1, joining Cleveland last season, Golden State in 2015, Dallas in 2002 and Chicago in 1996.<\/p>\n
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Mitchell had 20 points off the bench on eight-of-eight shooting, two-of-two from three-point range.<\/p>\n
“Glad we got the win. Glad I got a good game. Happy about it,” Mitchell said. “(The key was) just being prepared and being ready for 48 minutes.<\/p>\n
“We started off well and we just kept going. That’s what we’ve got to keep doing every single game.”<\/p>\n
Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 15 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 7-0 at home.<\/p>\n
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The Los Angeles Lakers, led by 33 points and 11 rebounds from Luka Doncic, stretched\u00a0their win streak to four games\u00a0with a 108-106 victory at Utah.<\/p>\n
LeBron James, in his first road game of the season after being sidelined by sciatica, scored 17 points in 34 minutes on eight-of-18 shooting but missed all four three-point attempts. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.<\/p>\n
Austin Reaves added 22 points\u00a0and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 12-4.<\/p>\n
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Keyonte George, who led Utah with 27 points, missed a three-point in the final seconds to seal the Lakers’ triumph.<\/p>\n
At Phoenix, Dillon Brooks scored 25 points and Devin Booker added 24 to lead the host Suns over San Antonio 111-102.<\/p>\n
The Spurs, playing without injured French star Victor Wembanyama, fell to 11-5 with a three-game win streak snapped.<\/p>\n
Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell unleashed a 37-point performance with eight rebounds and six assists to spark the Cavaliers over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 120-105.<\/p>\n
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Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 33 points and 18 rebounds.<\/p>\n
Jaylen Brown scored 35 points to lead the Boston Celtics over visiting Orlando 138-129. Anfernee Simons added 23 off the bench for Boston while Magic reserve Jeff Hoard had 30 points.<\/p>\n
Host Atlanta had 28 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds from Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 23 to lift the Hawks over Charlotte 113-110.<\/p>\n
Alexander-Walker’s layup lifted Atlanta ahead 111-110 with 1:42 remaining and he added two late free throws to seal Charlotte’s fate, the Hornets going scoreless over the final three minutes as Atlanta ended the game on a 6-0 run over 2:14.<\/p>\n
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– Raptors win 11 of 12 –<\/p>\n
At Toronto, Scottie Barnes led eight double-figure scorers with 17 points to power the host Raptors over Brooklyn 119-109.<\/p>\n
The Raptors (12-5), second in the Eastern Conference, stretched their win streak to seven games with an 11th victory in 12 contests.<\/p>\n
Miami’s Norman Powell scored 32 points and Kel’el Ware added 20 points and 16 rebounds to spark the Heat’s 127-117 home victory over Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points in a losing cause as Miami (11-6) saw their win streak hit four games.<\/p>\n
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Kevin Durant will miss Houston’s next two games while tending to a family matter, ESPN and The Athletic reported. He won’t play in road games against two of his former clubs, Phoenix on Monday and Golden State on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Denver’s Aaron Gordon will be sidelined by a hamstring strain for four to six weeks, the Nuggets announced Sunday.<\/p>\n
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