{"id":531627,"date":"2026-01-12T12:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/531627\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T12:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:26:24","slug":"nba-best-thunder-beat-the-heat-as-t-wolves-edge-spurs-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/531627\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA-best Thunder beat the Heat as T-Wolves edge Spurs | National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sparked defending champion Oklahoma City to victory on Sunday while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half.<\/p>\n

“We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.<\/p>\n

“We hit some shots in the second half and that got us going.”<\/p>\n

Jalen Williams scored 18 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder while Andrew Wiggins led the Heat (20-19) with 23 points.<\/p>\n

A day after losing at Cleveland, Minnesota edged the visiting Spurs 104-103 on a bank shot by Anthony Edwards with 16.8 seconds to play.<\/p>\n

“Ant-Man” had 23 points while Donte DiVincenzo scored 19, reserve Naz Reid added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Rudy Gobert grabbed 14 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama, who scored five points in San Antonio’s game-opening 16-0 run, led the Spurs with 29 points but the French star and De’Aaron Fox each missed go-ahead shots in the dying seconds.<\/p>\n

Second-place San Antonio (27-12) fell 5.5 games behind the Thunder atop the Western Conference with the T-Wolves another 1.5 games back at 26-14.<\/p>\n

Another thriller came in Canada as Toronto’s Scottie Barnes made the winning free throw with 0.8 of a second remaining in overtime as the Raptors edged Philadelphia 116-115, denying the 76ers a sixth win in seven games.<\/p>\n

Barnes led Toronto with 31 points while Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 38 for the Sixers.<\/p>\n

Jamal Shead made a jumper for Toronto with 1.9 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime at 107-107.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"In
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<\/p>\n


\n \"MLB
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A three-pointer by V.J. Edgecombe lifted the Sixers level with 16.1 seconds remaining in overtime before Kelly Oubre’s foul on Barnes set up the deciding free throw.<\/p>\n

– Knicks beat Blazers –<\/p>\n

New York’s Jalen Brunson scored 26 points while O.G. Anunoby added 24 to lead the Knicks to a 123-114 triumph at Portland, snapping the Trail Blazers’ five game win streak.<\/p>\n

Anunoby made two three-pointers in an 11-0 Knicks run to seize a 114-104 lead and Portland could not overtake New York again.<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks while Deni Avdija led Portland with 25 points.<\/p>\n

Denver’s Aaron Gordon scored 23 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 26 off the bench to lead the Nuggets over visiting Milwaukee 108-104.<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Bucks.<\/p>\n

Orlando’s Desmond Bane scored 27 points as the host Magic rallied in the fourth quarter to beat New Orleans 128-118.<\/p>\n

Cedric Coward scored a game-high 21 points and sank two three-pointers in a game-ending 13-0 Memphis run as the Grizzlies defeated visiting Brooklyn 103-98.<\/p>\n

Royce O’Neale’s 19 points led host Phoenix over Washington 112-93.<\/p>\n

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