West-leading Thunder win ninth straight, cool off Pacers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 45 points while nearly recording a triple-double as the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied past the Indiana Pacers 120-114 on Thursday night in Indianapolis.Gilgeous-Alexander also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out eight assists for Oklahoma City, which won its ninth straight game despite trailing by 15 in the opening quarter. Jalen Williams contributed 20 points, Luguentz Dort chipped in 13 and Isaiah Hartenstein paired 11 with 13 boards.The Thunder pulled away from a 107-107 tie at the charity stripe, with Williams and Hartenstein each hitting a pair of free throws to cap an 8-0 run that gave Oklahoma City a 111-107 lead with 1:39 to play.Bennedict Mathurin responded with two successful foul shots of his own, but Gilgeous-Alexander connected on a 3-pointer with 59.4 seconds left, then made good on six free throws down the stretch to put the finishing touches on the win.Andrew Nembhard finished with 23 points as Indiana saw its five-game winning streak come to an end despite outshooting the Thunder 47.2 percent to 46.3 percent overall. Pascal Siakam (22 points, 10 boards) and Myles Turner (12 points, 11 rebounds) had double-doubles, and Mathurin notched 18 points.Oklahoma City scored 11 of the first 13 points of the third quarter to go up 64-63, its first lead of the game.