Point guard’s star still rising

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped a 42-point performance by draining a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-120 victory over the Washington Wizards last night.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s heroics came on the heels of Bradley Beal sinking a fadeaway jumper near the baseline that gave Washington a 120-118 lead with 6.7 seconds remaining. Gilgeous-Alexander also had seven assists and six rebounds.

Washington’s Kristaps Porzingis collected 27 points and nine rebounds and Beal scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter. Beal was making his return after missing five games due to NBA health and safety protocols.

Kyle Kuzma recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Wizards, who saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt.

Julius Randle had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 21 and visiting New York Knicks beat Denver Nuggets 106-103.

Derrick Rose had 13 points, RJ Barrett added 11 and Cam Reddish contributed 10 for the Knicks, who won in Denver for the first time since 2006.

Jamal Murray had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Bones Hyland also scored 21 for the short-handed Nuggets. Denver played without Nikola Jokic, who entered health and safety protocols, and Aaron Gordon, who was out with a non-COVID illness.

Cameron Payne made six 3-pointers while scoring a career-best 29 points and Devin Booker added 27 points, nine assists and three blocked shots to lead Phoenix Suns to a solid 130-119 victory over road-challenged Golden State Warriors.

Mikal Bridges sank five 3-pointers and had 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Suns, who improved to 7-1 at home. Deandre Ayton scored 14 points and Torrey Craig added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix.

Stephen Curry scored a season-best 50 points on 17-of-28 shooting, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range, for the Warriors. The setback dropped Golden State to 0-8 on the road, the club’s worst such start since the 1989-90 Warriors lost their first nine away games.

Anthony Edwards scored a season-high 35 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 30 and Minnesota Timberwolves picked up their second straight road victory, winning at Orlando Magic 126-108.

All five Timberwolves starters scored in double figures with Rudy Gobert recording 16 points, D’Angelo Russell finishing with 11 points and Jaden McDaniels chipping in 10 points. Gobert, McDaniels and Edwards each grabbed eight rebounds.

Magic forward Bol Bol scored a career-high 26 points and added 12 rebounds on his 23rd birthday. Jalen Suggs added 23 points and six assists.

Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points in a duel between two young point guards to help Indiana Pacers earn a 125-113 road victory against Charlotte Hornets.

Haliburton also recorded 11 assists and had a role in ruining the season home debut for Charlotte point guard LaMelo Ball, who scored 26 points and dished out six assists.

Indiana’s Myles Turner had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Bennedict Mathurin also had 20 points.

O.G. Anunoby scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Toronto Raptors defeated visiting Miami Heat 112-104.

Fred VanVleet added 23 points, 13 of them in the third quarter, to help the Raptors win their second game in a row. Scottie Barnes had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists for Toronto.

Max Strus had 20 points for the Heat, whose three-game winning streak ended. Kyle Lowry added 19 points, and Gabe Vincent had 16 points.

Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. scored 17 points apiece as Houston Rockets snapped Dallas Mavericks’ six-game homecourt winning streak with a 101-92 win.

The Rockets snapped a three-game skid despite committing a whopping 23 turnovers that Dallas, playing without Luka Doncic (rest), converted into 25 points. They helped their cause by recording 19 blocks, the highest total in the NBA this season and one shy of the franchise mark.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood scored 28 and 26 points, respectively, off the Dallas bench. The Mavericks shot 30.4 percent overall and did not have a starter score in double figures.

Other scores: Celtics 126, Hawks 101; Bucks 113, Cavaliers 98; Pelicans 124, Bulls 110. (Reuters)