Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 as the Oklahoma \u2060City Thunder used a big second-half push to beat the visiting Chicago Bulls \u200b131-113 on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Thunder trailed \u200bby eight with less than four minutes remaining in the third before taking over.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City then went on a 22-0 run that extended well into the fourth quarter to catch up and pull away from the Bulls.<\/p>\n
After Tre Jones’ driving layup that led to a three-point \u2060play with 3:57 to go in the third, Chicago missed its next \u206017 shots, not hitting another until nearly four minutes into the fourth.<\/p>\n
The Thunder (58-16) earned their 13th victory in 14 games and moved 2 1\/2 games ahead of the idle San Antonio \u200cSpurs for the top overall seed in \u200bthe Western Conference with \u2060eight games remaining for Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n
The Bulls (29-44) took their \u200b19th loss in 24 games, knocking them out of play- in contention.<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t efficient, going just 8 of 24 from the field and missing all \u200b10 of his 3-point tries, but he came up big when Oklahoma City needed it.<\/p>\n
The reigning Most Valuable Player scored 14 in the third, with eight from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n
Cason Wallace, who started in place of Chet Holmgren, was plenty efficient, though, scoring 21 \u200con 8-of-11 shooting, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
Holmgren \u200bmissed the game due to a hip contusion.<\/p>\n
Jalen Williams had 18 points, eight \u200bassists, and \u2060six rebounds, while Jaylin Williams had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Hartenstein had 16 boards.<\/p>\n
The Bulls, who announced a day earlier that Jaden Ivey \u200band Jalen Smith would miss the remainder of the season, \u2060led for \u200bmuch of the game before Oklahoma City’s third-quarter finish.<\/p>\n
Isaac Okoro scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half as Chicago led by as many as nine.<\/p>\n
Collin Sexton led Chicago with 22 off the bench, while Jones scored \u200b21. Sexton scored 16 of his points before the break.<\/p>\n
After shooting \u200b55.6 per cent in the first half, the Bulls were just 30.2 per cent from the field in the second half, including 3 of 23 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
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