Sunday night’s contest between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks went down the wire. It required some clutch heroics from each team’s superstar with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson battling it out down the stretch.
In the end, however, it was SGA who had the final laugh as he silenced the home crowd at Madison Square Garden with an ice-cold game-winner.
Oklahoma City Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Sinks Game-Winner Vs. Knicks
Brunson was supposed to be the hero of the evening after he gave the Knicks a one-point lead with just 4.1 seconds remaining on the clock:
JALEN BRUNSON GIVES THE KNICKS THE LEAD!
112-111 with 4.1 seconds remaining 🚨
Watch on the NBA App!
📲 https://t.co/IsAkfvnGzk pic.twitter.com/D3Yfk46GTl— NBA (@NBA) April 1, 2024
Unfortunately for the Knicks, 4.1 seconds was too much time for Gilgeous-Alexander. The two-time All-Star proved why he is one of the frontrunners to this season’s Most Valuable Player crown with a jaw-dropping fadeaway jumper to lead OKC to victory:
SHAI ANSWERS BACK!!!! pic.twitter.com/yWsI9jZ4U9
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) April 1, 2024
Shai left 1.8 seconds on the game clock after his deuce, and Brunson had another chance to win it for the Knicks. He got a pretty good look down the baseline, but the Knicks star just couldn’t save the day for New York.
This was a massive win for the Thunder, who have now improved to 52-22. They recaptured their spot atop the Western Conference and are now just half a game ahead of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, who also won on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 130-101.
Oklahoma City has now officially clinched their spot in the playoffs after their win over New York.
OKC has eight games remaining in the regular season, which starts with a tough back-to-back set against the Philadelphia 76ers and the league-best Boston Celtics (both road games) on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
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