Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late Saturday night to defeat the Houston Rockets and advance to the NBA Cup championship.
The Thunder take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s final against the Bucks. Milwaukee defeated the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinal. The title game does not count in the league standings.
Isaiah Hartenstein added 21 points for the Thunder, while Jalen Williams scored 20 and Luguentz Dort finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Amen Thompson led Houston with 19 points, one of six Rockets in double figures, while Alperen Sengun had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rockets and Thunder have two of the three best records in the Western Conference, making Saturday’s second semifinal a potential playoff preview.
Oklahoma City went on a 13-3 run to go ahead 97-82 with 4:57 left to break open what was a close game.
The Thunder scored 70 points in the second half.
Houston point guard Fred VanVleet’s three-point shooting woes continued. He made six of 29 in his previous three games and missed his first nine shots from long range and finished one of 11 against Oklahoma City.
Gilgeous-Alexander entered the game averaging 30.2 points and shooting 51.5% but struggled to find his offensive game early. He found a way to get to the free-throw line, making 14 of 15 to help surpass his season average.
