Joe, Gilgeous-Alexander Lead OKC to Bounce Back Victory over New York

The Thunder didn't give the Knicks much chance from the start of the game, burying them early and restarting its winning streak.

Jan 10, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) and forward Mikal Bridges (25) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Looking to bounce back after only its sixth loss of the season against Cleveland, the Oklahoma City Thunder secured a 126-121 victory over the New York Knicks.

From the start, it was clear the Thunder were hungry to restart its win streak. OKC didn't give New York much chance in the first three quarters of the game, especially in the first half.

An unlikely contributor off the bench aided in the important win. That was Thunder sharpshooter Isaiah Joe. He finished with 31 at the game's end, 23 of which came in the first half. This was by far his best outing of the season, which was much needed to break out of his brutal shooting slump. Joe also finished with the best plus-minus on the team with plus-31 and shot 8-for-11 from the perimeter.

As a whole, Oklahoma City got out to a hot start. The team was efficient and did everything right on offense against a challenging New York defense, getting out to a 70-43 lead to end the first half. The Knicks only shot 31.8% from the field and 13.3% from the three-point line. On the flip side, OKC shot 60% from the field and 66.7% from the three-point line. That difference enough was enough to catapult the Thunder to a massive lead.

For a Thunder squad that has struggled from the perimeter this season, OKC's output from outside exceeded its usual average of 35.1%. For a team not known for shooting well from the outside, Oklahoma City utilized the perimeter in an efficient manner, a feat they haven't accomplished often this season.

It's worth mentioning that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams also had good performances. Gilgeous-Alexander posted 39 points on 15-for-21 shooting and Williams 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting.

In need of a hot second-half start, the Knicks scored 13 quick points. OKC followed that up with a run of its own to cancel that out. Unfortunately for New York, there wasn't anything it could do to shut down Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander increased his scoring output to 39 by the end of the third quarter, and there simply wasn't anything the Knicks' defense could do.

Despite the difference in the score, the Knicks managed to force more turnovers than OKC. The Thunder finished with 15 turnovers and the Knicks with 10. That's a staple of the Knicks, which has been an important factor in winning basketball this season.

A lot went wrong for the Knicks and OKC's defense was impressive, but shooting as bad as they did from the field makes winning hard against any team in the NBA. Star guard Jalen Brunson went 7-for-15 from the field and forward Karl-Anthony Towns went 9-for-16. OG Anunoby's 2-for-8 shooting performance also didn't help that rough team scoring night and neither did Mikal Bridges' 0-for-9 night.

The fourth quarter for both teams was the same story as the rest of the game. New York never got its deficit under 20 points and the Thunder continued to score from all areas of the court. Joe hit

Oklahoma City follows up its blowout victory over the Knicks with a clash against the Washington Wizards on the road at 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 12.

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