SGA's 37 helps the Thunder overshadow Suns to go 2-0 up

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points and nine assists, as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Phoenix Suns 120-107 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points in the series-opening win on Sunday, going five for 18 from the field. He bounced back in Game 2 with 13-for-25 shooting after being presented the NBA Clutch Player of the Year trophy before the game.

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams each added 19 points for Oklahoma City, though Williams left the game in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and did not return. Williams, an All-Star in 2024-25, missed 30 games this season with a right hamstring injury after missing the first 19 games of the season following surgery on his right wrist.

Five higher-seeded teams had lost home games in the first week of the playoffs before Wednesday, including the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference — Detroit, Boston and New York — and the No 2 and 3 seeds in the West — San Antonio and Denver. Oklahoma City avoided that fate by shooting 47.3 percent from the field and forcing 21 turnovers.

Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 30 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Devin Booker scored 22 points and Jalen Green added 21 for Phoenix, which will host Game 3 on Saturday.

The Thunder led 65-57 at halftime. Williams made his first six field goals and had 19 points at the break, while Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

The action picked up early in the second half, as Brooks and Oklahoma City's Luguentz Dort — both members of Canada's national team — got double technical fouls after a brief skirmish following a made free throw.

Holmgren started the second half hot. He scored eight points in just over four minutes to help the Thunder go up 77-63 and force a Phoenix timeout. Oklahoma City extended the lead to 100-77 at the end of the third quarter.

Oklahoma City pushed the lead to 26 points early in the fourth, before Phoenix made a final push.

Booker made a pull-up jumper and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but he rebounded and made a midrange jumper to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 110-97 with five minutes to play.

The Suns got no closer than 10 points.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons used dominant defense and a third-quarter scoring spree to beat the Orlando Magic 98-83 on Wednesday and level their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series at one game apiece.

Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and handed out 11 assists, while Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds, for the Eastern Conference top-seeded Detroit, which was stunned in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Sunday.

"We just played defense," Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "It's that simple. When we play defense at the level we're capable of, it triggers everything for us."