Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrates after scoring against the Washington Wizards in the second half at Capital One Arena on November 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. Rob Carr/Getty Images/AFP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points, including five crucial free throws in the final seconds of extra time, to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-119 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
DeMar DeRozan carried the Bulls in extra time, scoring all nine of their points.
But with 27.1 seconds left, he bit into a fake pump, left his foot, and fouled Gilgeous-Alexander in an attempt to take the three.
Gilgeous-Alexander successfully made all three free throws, then was fouled again after Thunder caught a return after DeRozan’s miss on the other end, allowing Gilgeous-Alexander to end the game with two. Free throw with 4.9 seconds left.
The win broke Oklahoma City’s three-game losing streak and two-game winning streak for Chicago.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played 3rd game in a row with over 30 PTS and 7+ AST in the lead @okcthunder to win the OT!
@shaiglalex: 30 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST pic.twitter.com/FwZ6NSTc02
– NBA (@NBA) November 26, 2022
Gilgeous-Alexander is 14th out of 15 free throws as the Thunder have the season’s highest record for free throws taken with 32.
Darius Bazley added his all-time-high 17 points from the bench for Oklahoma City as the Thunder’s reserves beat Chicago 48-31.
DeRozan leads the Bulls with 30 points, moving up to 12th out of 27 points. Zach LaVine added 27 and Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Thunder had a chance to win it at the end of the allotted time, but Gilgeous-Alexander’s floating runner missed the target at the whistle.
It was Oklahoma City’s second consecutive overtime game and fourth of the season.
For the Bulls, this is the first overtime game of the season.
The Thunder took an eight-man lead with less than six minutes left, but LaVine and DeRozan helped Chicago force injury time.
The Bulls took a 9-0 lead to take the lead in the second half with less than four minutes left.
LaVine scored 12 points in the fourth inning.
Oklahoma City overtook Chicago 68-46.
The Bulls scored the first nine points of the game and made their first eight hits.
Chicago did not miss until more than four minutes of the game.
Oklahoma City missed the first four shots.
The Bulls took a 12 lead in the first half before the Thunder finished 25-11 in the final eight minutes to take the lead.
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