ORLANDO, Fla. – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and Jalen Williams scored six straight points in a fourth-quarter run that helped stave off an Orlando comeback as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Magic 105-99 on Thursday night defeated.

Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder. Williams, Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso finished with 11 points each.

Anthony Black scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and tied 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 for the third straight time and fourth time in five games.

Takeaways

Thunder: In its first game since a loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup Finals on Tuesday night, Oklahoma City opened the second quarter with an 18-4 run and held the lead until the end of the game. The Thunder endured 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 NBA’s best defensive team. Orlando had 20 turnovers.

Key moment

With Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench and Oklahoma City leading by three points early in the fourth quarter, Williams scored six straight points, including a spinning layup and a driving dunk, to open a decisive 14-3 run.

Important statistics

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) and free throw percentage (.737). ), turnovers (19.08) and steals (12.16). Most of these numbers have improved.

Next

The Thunder play their third road game in four nights in Miami on Friday. The Magic host Miami on Saturday evening.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba