Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder beat Washington 132-111 on Saturday following a second-quarter melee that resulted in four ejections.<\/p>\n
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander added seven assists and three rebounds to his seventh 40-point effort of the season.<\/p>\n
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Chet Holmgren added 18 points and 10 rebounds while Isaiah Hartenstein had nine points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.<\/p>\n
The Thunder own the NBA’s best record at 56-15 and are on an 11-game win streak while the Wizards have the league’s second-worst record at 16-54 and lost their 15th game in a row.<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points in the first half to extend his NBA record streak of games with 20-or-more points to 131 in a row.<\/p>\n
The win though was overshadowed by a wild melee in the first half that led to a flurry of ejections.<\/p>\n
The altercation, which halted the game for 11 minutes, came with 27 seconds remaining in the second quarter just after Oklahoma City grabbed a 68-63 lead.<\/p>\n
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Thunder forward Jaylin Williams held the ball after the basket and twice bumped into Washington’s Justin Champagnie.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City’s Ajay Mitchell came up to confront Champagnie and was smacked in the face for his trouble to ignite the brawl.<\/p>\n
Referee Nate Green pushed Champagnie back to try and ease tensions while Mitchell kept advancing and was pushed forward and into a camera and a wave of players fell into a pile behind the baseline, all trying to support their side in the melee.<\/p>\n
Washington’s Champagnie was given two technical fouls and ejected while Williams was issued two technicals and ejected.<\/p>\n
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Mitchell and Thunder teammate Cason Wallace were both issued a technical foul for escalation of the altercation and each was ejected.<\/p>\n
Mitchell scored 14 points while Wallace had four, Williams had none and Champagnie had three for Washington.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City led 69-64 at halftime but with two starters and key reserve Williams out for the second half — setting the stage for the reigning MVP to seize command.<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander sank his first three-pointer of the game at the buzzer for the last of his 16 third-quarter points to give the Thunder a 103-96 edge entering the fourth.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City then outscored Washington 15-0 over the first 5:48 of the fourth quarter to seal the victory.<\/p>\n
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