Oklahoma City Thunder locked up the league’s top regular-season record on Wednesday with a 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, improving to 64-16 and guaranteeing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Rookie center Chet Holmgren paced Oklahoma City with 30 points and 14 rebounds, dropping 24 of those points before halftime as the Thunder built a lead that ballooned to 25. All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 20 points and 11 assists, extending his streak of 20-point games to an NBA-record 141 despite sitting out the fourth quarter. Jalen Williams added 18 points.
Oklahoma City shot 58.1 percent from the field and held the Clippers without a fast-break basket while posting its seventh straight victory and 19th in the past 20 outings.
Spurs 112, Trail Blazers 101
The San Antonio Spurs continued their late-season surge, moving to 61-19 with a 112-101 road win over Portland despite playing without Victor Wembanyama (rib) and Stephon Castle (knee soreness).
De’Aaron Fox scored 25 points, including 10 in the opening minutes, to steady San Antonio after a slow start. Six Spurs reached double figures; Keldon Johnson supplied 20 points and rookie Carter Bryant posted a season-high 17. The team is 28-3 since Feb. 1, its best run since 2017.
Head coach Mitch Johnson said there is optimism Wembanyama and Castle could return Friday against Dallas. Wembanyama still needs one more appearance of at least 20 minutes to satisfy the 65-game minimum for postseason awards eligibility.
San Antonio seized control with an 8-0 burst to close the first quarter and later used a 13-2 spurt late in the third to pull away.
Cavaliers 122, Hawks 116
The Atlanta Hawks missed a chance to secure a playoff berth, falling 122-116 in Cleveland for their second straight defeat. Atlanta slipped to 45-35, sitting one game ahead of Toronto for the East’s No. 5 seed and 1.5 games clear of Orlando.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 25 points, and Jonathan Kuminga provided 24 off the bench. Atlanta held a 67-56 advantage late in the second quarter, but the Cavaliers swung momentum with a 17-3 run that stretched across halftime and dominated the third period 44-20.
The Hawks mounted an 18-2 rally to cut the deficit to 118-116, highlighted by a Kuminga dunk, yet a late turnover in the paint prevented them from pulling even. A pair of free throws from Donovan Mitchell sealed the result. The clubs meet again Friday in the regular-season finale.
Source: Hoops Wire
