The Oklahoma City Thunder came back from a 76-74 deficit after three quarters to beat the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday by a score of 109-103. So, why in the world is this significant? Well, according to ESPN, this is the tenth time already this season that the Thunder came back in a game while trailing after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, the Thunder outscored the Spurs 35-27 for the six point win. Thunder all-star point guard Chris Paul of Winston-Salem, North Carolina led Oklahoma City with 10 fourth quarter points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario, who is emerging as a star guard in front of our eyes, led the Thunder with 25 points.
It has been quite the week for Gilgeous-Alexander. On Sunday, he scored 32 points for the Thunder in a 98-97 Oklahoma City win over the Toronto Raptors. According to the Canadian Press, Gilgeous-Alexander set the NBA record for most points in one game by a Canadian against the Raptors in Raptors history. The old record of 31 points belonged to Rick Fox and Andrew Wiggins, who are also both from Toronto. Fox had 31 points in a 114-105 Los Angeles Lakers win over the Raptors on March 31, 1998 and Wiggins had 31 points in a 112-109 Minnesota Timberwolves win over the Raptors on February 8, 2017.
The Thunder meanwhile won in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time since Christmas Day, 2014. That night, the Thunder beat the Spurs 114-106. With the win over San Antonio on January 2, the Thunder improved to a record of 19 wins and 15 losses. Even though they are seventh in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City is comfortably in a playoff spot, as they are 5.5 games ahead of the ninth place Portland Trail Blazers.
