Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points while rookie Chet Holmgren added 31 to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 136-128 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday in Washington, D.C.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Thunder while Washington’s losing streak stretched to five.
While Oklahoma City leads the league in free-throw shooting, their recent struggles at the line extended into Monday.
Oklahoma City missed four free throws in the third quarter, all coming in the final 6:30 as Washington trimmed what was an 11-point lead down to three at one point before finishing the frame down 102-97.
The Thunder finished 18 of 24 on free throws and are shooting just 73 percent from the line over their last three games. But they were able to overcome those issues this time.
Oklahoma City started the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run to extend their load to a game-high 13 points, highlighted by back-to-back plays from Jalen Williams.
First, Williams found Kenrich Williams for a layup, and then drilled a step-back 3-pointer moments later.
But the Wizards didn’t go away, cutting the deficit to six at 124-118 with less than five minutes remaining.
Washington had a chance to pull even closer but turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions and Gilgeous-Alexander scored five consecutive points to stretch the lead back out.
Jalen Williams finished with 21 points and a season-high 10 assists, scoring 11 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City finished with a season-high 37 assists.
Isaiah Joe scored 16 off the bench for the Thunder, hitting four 3-pointers, while Aaron Wiggins tied his season high with 13. Wiggins scored 11 of his points in the second quarter.
Jordan Poole led the Wizards with 24 points while Kyle Kuzma added 22 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
Washington was 25 of 29 at the free-throw line after coming in averaging less than 17 free-throw attempts per game over its previous eight games.
–Field Level Media