{"id":338381,"date":"2025-12-11T05:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T05:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/338381\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T05:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T05:43:07","slug":"shai-gilgeous-alexander-scores-28-as-oklahoma-city-thunder-tie-nba-record-for-best-start-with-blowout-of-phoenix-suns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/338381\/","title":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 28 as Oklahoma City Thunder tie NBA record for best start with blowout of Phoenix Suns"},"content":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> matched the best 25-game start to an NBA season by dominating the Phoenix Suns<\/a> 138-89 in an NBA Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Thunder\u2019s 24-1 mark ties the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors<\/a>, who won their first 24 games before finally losing. <\/p>\n

Chet Holmgren<\/a> added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who set a franchise record with their 16th straight win. They advanced to the semifinals on Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> or San Antonio.<\/p>\n

It seemed this could be a tough one for the Thunder. Oklahoma City\u2019s 123-119 win over the Suns in NBA Cup group play on Nov. 28 was its closest game during its win streak.<\/p>\n

But Phoenix star Devin Booker<\/a> missed his third straight game with a strained right groin. He scored 21 points in the previous matchup and said in the postgame that the \u201csecret is out\u201d about the Thunder\u2019s league-leading defense.<\/p>\n

It appears the Suns have more to learn. They shot 39.3% from the field and scored a season-low point total. Dillon Brooks<\/a> led the Suns with 16 points, but he made just 4 of 16 shots. It was the fewest points Oklahoma City has allowed this season.<\/p>\n

Jalen Williams<\/a> hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the Thunder a 74-48 lead. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 17 points in the first half despite just eight shot attempts.<\/p>\n

It was Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s 96th straight game with at least 20 points. He reached the total on a breakaway dunk that put the Thunder up 84-50 with 9:15 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Phoenix guard Grayson Allen<\/a> was ejected after he shoved Holmgren and knocked him to the floor. The Thunder led 94-58 with 5:18 left in the third quarter when the two collided while Holmgren appeared to be setting a screen. Allen extended both arms, knocking Holmgren to the floor, and was called for a Flagrant 2. <\/p>\n

Up next:<\/p>\n

Suns: Host the Golden State Warriors<\/a> next Thursday.<\/p>\n

Thunder: Advanced to the semifinal on Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> or San Antonio.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA<\/p>\n

Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder matched the best 25-game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-338381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}