Game 9 Rapid Recap: Thunder (5-4) def. Nets (5-6) 129-116

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Official Box Score

Oklahoma City used a 37-18 third quarter to blow the doors wide open and take down Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets and go 2-0 in the Big Apple. The star of the show tonight was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who turned in 31 points (on 11-16 shooting), 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Shai’s last three games? 31-6-7 // 25-10-7 // 21-5-9 all on the road, and all resulting in wins. He was helped by big nights from Hamidou Diallo (25 points on 14 shots) and Al Horford (22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists).

For a team “built to tank”, OKC sure doesn’t seem to be very good at it. Oklahoma City is non-stop fight, aggression and will. It would be a mistake not to highlight head coach Mark Daigneault. This team is 5-4, with four of those wins coming on the road. Most teams facing OKC (a team beginning a rebuild) will assume jumping out to an early lead means an easy night at the office, but the Thunder have shown high-quality, consistent effort for 48 minutes night after night and Daigneault is the main reason for that.

After a very successful road trip, the Thunder return home looking for their first win at The Peake against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at 7pm CST.