It was a homecoming to remember for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Back in his native Canada, Gilgeous-Alexander matched his career-high and banked in the game-winning basket as Oklahoma City escaped on Sunday evening with a 98-97 win over the Raptors.
Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored 32 points in three of the Thunder’s last five games, but to do it against the reigning NBA Champions near his hometown of Hamilton makes this one a little sweeter.
With 36 seconds left, SGA drove with his left hand into the lane, hung in the air and banked it in to put the Thunder ahead by one. He sealed the victory with a rebound at the other end when Fred Van Vleet’s potential game-winning 3-pointer was off the mark.
Three other players were in double-digits for Oklahoma City. Chris Paul had 25, while Nerlens Noel came off the bench to score 13 and Darius Bazley added 12.
The Thunder were without Dennis Schroder, who missed Sunday’s game due to right ankle soreness. It was the first game Schroder did not play in this season.
With the victory, Oklahoma City has now won six of their last seven games and improve to 17-15 on the season.
The Thunder are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Mavericks.
