NBA: The Thunder signs its 10th consecutive victory, Jalen Brunson saves the Knicks

It wasn't the most successful match of the season for Oklahoma, but the Thunder knew how to avoid the “sloppy game” by letting themselves be dragged down by weak opposition in Charlotte. OKC did enough to avoid a too complicated evening at the Spectrum Center. At the break, in the wake of the duo Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (22 points in the end) – Jalen Williams (20 points), the leader of the Western Conference was already leading 61-46 and, without flaring up too much, Mark's team Daigneault counted almost the entire meeting at least 10 safety lengths.

Opposite, without LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, absent, Charlotte did not have the means to compete at home anyway. Only OKC could beat OKC, but Gilgeous-Alexander and co had too much margin to get caught alone. With this 10th consecutive victory (94-106), the Thunder consolidates its dominant position in the West with a record of 25 wins for 5 losses. In the entire League, only Cleveland does better (27-4).

This should have been just a formality, but New York trembled until the end during the short trip to Washington, the worst team in the West with only 5 victories since the start of the season. But the Knicks needed an extension to leave the capital with the victory (132-136), their 7th in a row. They can say thank you to Karl-Anthony Towns, author of an ultra-strong match (30 points, 14 rebounds) but even more to Jalen Brunson, author of a card: 55 points, including 9 during overtime.

It was especially after the break that Brunson caught fire (42 points, including overtime). He also added 9 assists and showed unfailing composure, particularly on the penalty line (16 out of 17 on throws). “It's great, especially since I haven't been great at throwing this season, but I put them in when it counted tonight“, he commented. Yet deprived of its best scorer, Jordan Poole, Washington led most of the match but paid dearly for its 17 turnovers. The Wizards were looking for their first winning series of the season after beating Charlotte on Thursday.

It's not yet as impressive as the Oklahoma or even the Knicks series, but Atlanta still gleaned its third success in a row on Saturday evening by dominating Miami (120-110). The Hawks let themselves be carried by a particularly efficient Jalen Johnson with 28 points and 13 rebounds and a De'Andre Hunter who was also prolific (28 points). Trae Young scored his 22nd double-double of the season (11 points, 15 assists).

Two days after their fantastic victorious comeback against Chicago, the Georgians stepped on the accelerator after returning from the locker room to take the measure of the Heat after a very indecisive first half of the match. Atlanta solidifies its 6th place in the East, just ahead of its victim of the evening. A success that is anything but trivial, therefore, especially before starting a long road trip of six consecutive matches far from their bases.

Chicago – Milwaukee : 116-111
Washington – New York : 132-136
LA Lakers – Sacramento : 132-122
Atlanta-Miami: 120-110
Charlotte – Oklahoma : 94-106
Golden State – Phoenix : 109-105
Denver – Detroit: 134-121
Utah – Philadelphia: 111-114
Portland – Dallas : 126-122