PHOENIX — — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 118-110 Sunday night to take the Western Conference lead, rebounding after blowing a 24-point lead.
Jusuf Nurkic broke the Suns franchise record with 31 rebounds, the most in an NBA game in 14 years. He also had 14 points – and five of Phoenix’s 21 turnovers. The Suns played without star guard Devin Booker after he sprained his right ankle late in a loss to Houston on Saturday night.
Oklahoma City improved to 42-18 to take a half-game lead over Northwest Division rivals Denver and Minnesota in the Western Conference. The Thunder had won six in a row before losing Thursday night in San Antonio, and this one almost escaped.
“We were able to control the start pretty quickly,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “And then it was an avalanche in the third and fourth quarters, they really got into a rhythm there. But I think we showed great resilience in the fourth to get back into it after all that.
All five of Oklahoma City’s starters were in double figures. Jalen Williams had 22 points, Chet Holmgren 14, Luguentz Dort 13 and Josh Giddey 10. Gilgeous-Alexander also had eight rebounds and nine assists.
Nurkic broke Phoenix’s rebound record of 27 set by Tyson Chandler against Atlanta in January 2016. Nurkic’s previous career high was 23 for Portland against Sacramento in January 2019. The 7-footer had 22 this season against the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Nurkic said. “It’s great, but we lost the game.”
Bradley Beal scored 31 points for Phoenix. Sent off Saturday night for a fight with Houston’s Jalen Green, Beal played 33 minutes in his second game because of a hamstring strain. He made seven turnovers.
“The year I’ve had, I’m just happy to be on the field,” said Beal, who missed 28 games this season due to various injuries.
Kevin Durant added 20 points, but had five turnovers. Eric Gordon had 15 points after missing three games with a groin injury.
Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said before the game that Booker’s ankle was still being evaluated and the team would have more information Tuesday.
Initially, Phoenix overcame Booker’s absence, taking a 17-4 lead. But the Thunder scored the next 10 points and finished the first quarter on a 24-7 run to lead 28-22. Gilgeous-Alexander had 10 points in the period.
Nurkic played seven minutes in the first quarter and pulled down 12 rebounds – but the Suns had just one rebound for the rest of the quarter after going to the bench to take a breather.
Gilgeous-Alexander, second to Dallas’ Luka Doncic with a 31.4 scoring average Sunday, had 18 points in the first half Sunday as the Thunder led 66-52 at intermission. Beal had 17 to lead the Suns.
Oklahoma City led by 24 before the Suns came back to cut the score to 86-83 late in the third quarter. Gordon’s 3-point basket early in the fourth quarter made the score 91-89, the Suns’ first lead since the first quarter.
“We stopped fouling,” Vogel said of what ended up being a 39-8 Phoenix run. “I was trying so hard to get Kevin involved instead of letting the game come to us.”
But the Thunder stars kept their cool and came away with the victory.
“I just play the game with a level head, I always try to play the next possession in front of me,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Basketball is a running game, so it’s up and down, you just have to try to turn the tide and you only do that by taking possession by possession. “I try to keep the same mentality no matter what happens.”
FOLLOWING
Thunder: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
Suns: At Denver Tuesday night.
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