Oklahoma City Thunder @ Orlando Magic
Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM ET
Kia Center, Orlando, FL | Game ID: 22400361
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
ORL 28 18 28 25 99OKC 29 36 17 23 105
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Thunder hold off Orlando's comeback bid, beat the Magic 105-99 behind Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams
ORLANDO, Fla. -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and Jalen Williams scored six straight points in a run in the fourth quarter that helped turned back an Orlando comeback bid as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Magic 105-99 on Thursday night.
Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder. Williams, Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso each finished with 11 points.
Anthony Black scored the first nine points in the fourth quarter and matched his career high with 23 points for the Magic.
Goga Bitadze added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Wendell Carter had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, which lost its third straight and for the fourth time in five games.
Takeaways Thunder: In their first game following a loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup final on Tuesday night, Oklahoma City opened the second quarter with an 18-4 run and held the lead the rest of the way. The Thunder weathered a scoreless stretch of 5 minutes, 51 seconds early in the second half.
Magic: Playing without the scoring power of injured forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner , who missed their 24th and fourth straight games, respectively, the Magic continued to search for offense against the best defensive team in the NBA. Orlando committed 20 turnovers.
Key Moment With Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench and Oklahoma City leading by three early in the fourth quarter, Williams scored six straight points, including a spinning layup and a driving dunk, opening a decisive 14-3 run.
Key stats The Thunder entered the game leading the NBA defensively in points per game (103.5), points per 100 possessions (103.7), field-goal percentage (.424), 3-point percentage (.331), free-throw percentage (.737), turnovers (19.08) and steals (12.16). Most of those numbers improved.
Up next The Thunder play their third road game in four nights at Miami on Friday. The Magic host Miami on Saturday night.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
ORLAB A. Black
CA C. Anthony
CJ C. Joseph
GB G. Bitadze
JH J. Howard
JI J. Isaac
JS J. Suggs
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
MW M. Wagner
TD T. da Silva
WC W. Carter Jr.
OKCAC A. Caruso
AM A. Mitchell
AW A. Wiggins
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
ORL/OKC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur