Oklahoma City Thunder hold off Portland Trail Blazers for bounce-back win

LOS ANGELES – Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland on Jan 26 to push their National Basketball Association-best record to 37-8, but his teammate Isaiah Hartenstein said the Canadian’s defensive skills are underappreciated.

The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Jan 23, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak.

Said Hartenstein of Gilgeous-Alexander: “We have an MVP player playing great defence night in, night out. He leads the league in blocks from a guard. He makes the hustle plays. He’s a team guy.”

Jalen Williams added 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Centre Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block.

On Williams, Hartenstein added: “We have an All-Star in Dub, who is to me probably one of the most underrated defenders in the league.”

Highlighting Oklahoma City’s defensive chops is the fact they lead the league in steals for the second straight season.

Mark Daigneault said rather than his coaching, this is down to his players. He said: “On our level, it’s the quality of defensive personnel.”

But the Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading into the fourth quarter, sliced the deficit to six on Anfernee Simons’ three-pointer with 2min 37sec left to play.

Oklahoma City’s lead was 112-106 with 1min 49sec remaining when Hartenstein, fed by Gilgeous-Alexander, threw down a dunk.

Gilgeous-Alexander followed with a driving lay-up to push the lead back to double digits.

“Just executing,” Hartenstein said about holding off Portland. “Focusing on the details.”

Hartenstein recorded his 16th double-double in 25 games this season for the Thunder, who shot 47.2 per cent from the field and 33.3 per cent (10 of 30) from three-point range.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who came into the contest averaging 32 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds, added five rebounds, one assist and three of the Thunder’s seven steals.

Oklahoma City outscored the Blazers 52-22 in the paint and had a 28-13 advantage in second-chance points.

Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Scoot Henderson scored 25 points off the bench and Toumani Camara added 24 points, but the Blazers have now lost their last 15 games against the Thunder.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns have won seven of their last nine games as they enter their Jan 27 (Jan 28, Singapore time) home contest against the Los Angeles Clippers, who are on a roll themselves as winners of six of their past eight.

Belying the Suns’ surge, however, is a rift between former starting centre Jusuf Nurkic and coach Mike Budenholzer.

After the Jan 25 win over the Washington Wizards, Nurkic claimed he and Budenholzer had not spoken in two months and had “no relationship”.

Nurkic said his intent is to “just be a pro and do the best I can”, the Arizona Republic reported. “Work and stay ready for whatever might be, but there is no chaos or bringing that to this team. They already have plenty of it,” he added.

Budenholzer said the pair have had conversations, but that playing time would go to those who deserved it. AFP, REUTERS