OKLAHOMA CITY — Creating space with the sidestep move, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander swished in the dagger baseline jumper despite Dennis Schroder's contest. For the first time in what feels like forever, OKC had to earn a victory in the final moments of a close contest.
The Oklahoma City Thunder kept their distance from the Detroit Pistons in a 119-103 win. They've won 11 in a row and finish with an NBA record of 29-1 against the Eastern Conference this season.
From the start, this had the makings of another boring blowout. The Thunder sped by the Pistons on the scoreboard with a quick 11-4 lead. That continued as they exited the first quarter with a 41-27 lead. Gilgeous-Alexander had already scored 15 points.
The Thunder looked like they were on the verge of another 20-point lead. Instead, their offense came to a screeching halt. They struggled to score with Gilgeous-Alexander off the floor. The Pistons slowly chipped away. They closed the half on a 12-4 run as Schroder and a red-hot Tim Hardaway Jr. made up for Cade Cunningham's absence.
After the first half, the Thunder only had a 65-59 lead. Despite being severally short-handed, the Pistons were going to force OKC to earn this win — something most teams have failed to do as they were steamrolled on the scoreboard.
Rejunevated, the Thunder scored the first 10 points out of the break. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams led them to a 75-59 lead with a little over nine minutes left in the third quarter. OKC scored 32 points in the frame to create a commanding 97-81 advantage.
Despite the score, the Pistons made the game interesting again with one final run. Malik Beasley's 3-pointer with a little under nine minutes left turned it into a 100-91 contest. Ausar Thompson's second-chance dunk forced the Thunder to call a timeout with just a 102-95 lead.
The Pistons' defense froze out the Thunder's second unit. They struggled to generate buckets. Paul Reed's and-one conversion turned it into a 102-98 contest with a little over six minutes left. Uh oh. After it looked like OKC would cruise to its 29th win over an Eastern squad, feisty Detroit muddied up the game and made things uncomfortable.
Alas, the Thunder were done playing with fire. As Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in, they turned off the stove. Holding onto a 107-103 lead with four minutes left, the Thunder finished the game by scoring 12 points. After Thompson had another second-chance jam, Detroit was scoreless in the final four minutes.
The Thunder's Mount Rushmore each created a highlight in the game-ending 12-0 run. Williams drilled a mid-range jumper, Lu Dort scored on a soul-crushing 3-pointer, Holmgren blocked Jalen Duren at the rim and Gilgeous-Alexander sealed the final result with a signature mid-range jumper.
Just like that, the Thunder's defense stepped up and failed to give up a single point. What felt like a likely down-to-the-wire ending turned into another ho-hum double-digit win for OKC. They've tied the 1972 Lakers for most 10-plus point wins in a season at 50.
The Thunder shot 44% from the field and went 10-of-38 (26.3%) from 3. ...
