The Oklahoma City Thunder took a close game at home to the New York Knicks 100-103 on Wednesday to earn their eighth straight win at Madison Square thanks to a strong performance by Chet Holmgren and 26 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is already closing in on Wilt Chamberlain’s record.
Jeremy Sochan and Landry Shamet had it in their hands to make it 103-103 that would have forced overtime in the last six seconds of the game, but the Knicks players missed and Madison Square Garden saw the Oklahoma City Thunder win in Manhattan for the eighth straight time.
Holmgren leads as SGA nears all-time high
New York, which had held its opponents under 100 points in its last four victories, was unable to stop the reigning NBA champions.
Chet Holmgren was the top scorer of the night with 28 points and a decisive 6 of 11 three-pointers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, reigning NBA MVP, was Oklahoma’s other leader with 26 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal.
The Canadian added another match to the bag on his way to shattering a record that seemed impossible to approach:
Wilt Chamberlain’s 126 straight games with 20 or more points between 1961 and 1963.
With last night’s 26 points, Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 39 points in his last visit to ‘the Mecca of basketball’, has now played 124 consecutive games scoring 20 or more points, just two games shy of matching Chamberlain.
The OKC point guard, also known as SGA by his initials, has maintained this incredible streak since November 2025 (Filed under: Oklahoma City Thunder beats New York Knicks).
A first half for Oklahoma
During the first half, the New York Knicks were only ahead on the scoreboard after their first basket in the first minute of the game, a clear sign of how the Oklahoma City Thunder controlled the game.
Mark Daigneault’s team was not completely dominant.
But they did set the pace of play on the court and managed their short lead well, winning 23-25.
In addition, the home fans were becoming unhinged at times, after an OKC foul on Brunson that was not called and several refereeing decisions that went in favor of the reigning NBA champions.
The Knicks missed several relatively easy situations from mid-range and in the paint.
This generated some disappointment among the New York fans, who saw that every time their team got closer on the scoreboard, OKC responded with several three-pointers, until reaching a complicated 40-50 at halftime.
Eight consecutive victory
QuéOnnda.com
Knicks come close to a comeback
View this post on Instagram
Although the reaction was slow to come after halftime, the Knicks stood up to the Oklahoma City Thunder and competed with them toe-to-toe in the final minutes of the third quarter, with Karl-Anthony Towns dominating.
The Dominican Republic native contributed a double-double (17 points and 17 rebounds), as well as an assist.
It wasn’t until the last play of the third quarter that the Knicks got what they had sweated so hard for:
Mikal Bridges nailed a spectacular three-pointer at the buzzer to turn Madison Square Garden upside down for a momentary 80-77 lead.
Mike Brown’s team was up to 4 points ahead on the scoreboard.
And, at times, it seemed that they were able to achieve the feat of knocking out the champions after falling behind by 15 points in the first half.
However, in the last quarter the Thunder showed the authority and experience of a champion to get back in front and never let go of the victory.
Thanks also to a stroke of luck for the Oklahoma City Thunder after two missed three-pointers by the New York Knicks that would have forced overtime in the final moments.
Knicks compete, but Thunder take the win
Despite the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Knicks put on a great team performance, with as many as six players in double figures in scoring.
Brunson contributed 16 points and Josh Hart had a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds).
Puerto Rican-born Jose Alvarado, born in Brooklyn, contributed 3 points and 2 assists in 11 minutes on the court after a discreet 1 of 6 shooting from the field.
The Knicks (40-23), third in the East, are in the midst of one of the most demanding stretches of the season.
After hosting the Spurs and OKC with a visit to Toronto in between, Mike Brown’s team will visit Denver and Crypto.com Arena to face the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Thunder (49-15), leaders of the West with the best percentage in the league, have no easy road ahead of them either:
They will host four high-level visitors in Oklahoma: Golden State, Denver, Boston and Minnesota.
With information from EFE
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com
