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mar 30 2026OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New York Knicks 111-100 in the NBA, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 30 points and a dominant fourth quarter performance that sealed the home victory. With the win, Oklahoma City maintains its extraordinary momentum and continues leading the race for the best record in the league.
The game started with competitive pace between two teams positioned high in their respective conferences. The New York Knicks found offensive production in Jalen Brunson, who sustained the visiting attack for much of the game, while the Oklahoma City Thunder responded with balanced play and contributions from several rotation players.
The key moment of the first half came just before halftime, when Josh Hart hit a deep three-pointer at the buzzer that left the score at 53-52 for Oklahoma City, keeping the Knicks close after an evenly matched first half.
After the break, the Thunder began to tilt the game in their favor. A steal and layup by Jalen Williams energized the crowd and allowed Oklahoma City to take control. Williams, who finished with 22 points and a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line, delivered one of his most solid performances after overcoming injuries that caused him to miss much of the season's start.
The Thunder closed the third quarter with an 84-78 advantage, but the Knicks refused to go away. Early in the fourth period, New York cut the deficit to just one point, though they never managed to take the lead.
That's when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over. After an uneven start (5 of 15 from the field in the first three quarters), the Canadian point guard made all three of his shots in the fourth quarter and added 10 points in that decisive stretch, while also going 13 of 16 from the free throw line. With that performance, he extended his streak to 135 consecutive games scoring at least 20 points, extending his NBA record.
Beyond Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams, Chet Holmgren contributed 16 points and nine rebounds for an Oklahoma City Thunder team that dominated from the free throw line, outscoring the Knicks 31-13 in free throws.
For the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson led the attack with 32 points and 13 of 22 from the field, while Karl-Anthony Towns added 15 points and 18 rebounds, though the New York team couldn't maintain the pace in the final minutes.
With this NBA victory, the Oklahoma City Thunder improve to 14 wins in their last 15 games and improve their record to 59-16, maintaining a 2.5-game lead over San Antonio in the race for the league's best record with eight games remaining. The New York Knicks, meanwhile, have lost two consecutive games following a previous seven-game winning streak and remain third in the Eastern Conference.
