Thunder rout Spurs 119-98, Gilgeous-Alexander scores 34

By Canadian Press on January 13, 2026.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder beat San Antonio 119-98 on Tuesday night to earn their first win in four tries against the Spurs this season.

Jalen Williams added 20 points and Chet Holmgren chipped in eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Oklahoma City. The Thunder improved to a league-best 34-7 at the midway point of the season — on pace to match last season’s 68-14 regular-season finish.

Stephon Castle scored 20 points and Victor Wembanyama added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs.

San Antonio started the night in second place behind Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings. The Spurs announced their presence as a title contender with the three wins over the Thunder in a two-week span last month, but now they have lost six of 10.

Oklahoma City started this season with a 24-1 record, then hit a lull that included the three losses to the Spurs. The Thunder have recovered and now have won four straight.

Oklahoma City won without two starters — top rebounder Isaiah Hartenstein and defensive stopper Lu Dort. The Thunder still held the Spurs to 40% shooting from the floor.

HEAT 127, SUNS 121

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 29 points, including three long jumpers in the final minutes, and Norman Powell added 27 as Miami squandered a 20-point lead before recovering to beat Phoenix.

Powell hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to put Miami ahead for good, and Andrew Wiggins made a pair of free throws to seal the game after Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks was called for a flagrant foul with 11.5 seconds remaining.

Adebayo pushed his career total to 9,461 points — two more than Alonzo Mourning for No. 2 on Miami’s list, with Dwyane Wade’s 21,556 points the franchise record. Tyler Herro scored 23 for Miami, which snapped a three-game slide.

Brooks and Grayson Allen each scored 25 for Phoenix, which had won three straight. Devin Booker finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Suns, while Mark Williams added 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Phoenix was trying to overcome a 20-point deficit for the second time this season; the Suns trailed by 20 to Sacramento on opening night. They’re now 0-11 in games in which they trailed by at least 20 since, but had a chance on Tuesday.

TIMBERWOLVES 139, BUCKS 106

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Julius Randle scored 29 points and hot-shooting Minnesota never trailed in a blowout of Milwaukee.

The Timberwolves won their sixth of seven despite missing top scorer Anthony Edwards due to maintenance on his right foot and leading rebounder Rudy Gobert, who served a one-game suspension for flagrant fouls. Gobert picked up his sixth flagrant foul point Sunday in a 104-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Coach Chris Finch returned for Minnesota after he missed the Spurs game with an illness.

The Timberwolves made a season-high 22 3-pointers on 43 attempts and shot a season-best 59.8% overall as the Bucks allowed their highest point total of the season.

An illness forced Milwaukee’s Myles Turner to sit out a game for the first time this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Bucks.

Even at far less than full strength, Minnesota took control from the start. The Timberwolves led 76-45 at the break, the biggest halftime advantage in a road game in franchise history.

The Timberwolves pulled ahead by 41 in the second half.

ROCKETS 119, BULLS 113

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant had 28 points and Alperen Sengun added 23 with 11 assists to lead Houston to a win over Chicago.

There were 35 lead changes in the game with neither team able to build a cushion until the Rockets did in the final minutes.

Houston trailed by 1 with about 3 1/2 minutes to go before going on a 7-2 run to make it 110-106. Durant got things going in that stretch with a dunk and Jabari Smith Jr. added a 3-pointer.

A layup by Tre Jones cut the lead to 2 but Smith made a jumper before knocking down a 3 from the top of the key to extend the lead to 115-108 with about 90 seconds remaining.

Kevin Huerter made a layup for Chicago after that but a booming dunk by Durant left Houston up 117-110 with less than a minute to play.

Amen Thompson added 23 points for the Rockets and Smith scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help Houston snap a three-game skid.

Jones had a career-high 34 points for the Bulls, who lost for the fourth time in five games.

NUGGETS 122, PELICANS 116

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jamal Murray had 35 points and nine assists, Peyton Watson made the tiebreaking jumper with 39 seconds left and Denver beat New Orleans.

Watson finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his first game since being chosen the Western Conference player of the week. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 18 points.

Trey Murphy III scored 31 points for the Pelicans, who lost for the 11th time in 12 games.

Murphy’s layup tied it at 114 with 1:02 to play. Watson’s basket put Denver back ahead and Aaron Gordon followed with a basket for a four-point lead before Murray’s free throws made it 120-114 with 8.6 seconds to go.

Murray scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, making all three shots, including two 3-pointers, in about eight minutes.

Murray had 11 points in the first quarter before Watson went 6 for 6 for 15 points in the second. But Murphy had 22 points in the first half as New Orleans took a 65-60 lead.

Gordon and Jalen Pickett each scored 16 points for the Nuggets, who won for the fourth time in five games since dropping their first two games of the new year.

The Associated Press