Thunder 104-97 Heat (December 20, 2024) Game Summary

MIAMI — – Jalen Williams scored a season-high 33 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Miami Heat 104-97 on Friday night for their seventh straight win.

Lu Dort scored 14 points and Isaiah Hartenstein had 13 points and 18 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 22-5 – the second-best record in the NBA and tops in the Western Conference.

Oklahoma City’s streak is alive because the NBA Cup final — a Tuesday night loss to Milwaukee in Las Vegas — doesn’t count as a regular-season game.

Tyler Herro had 28 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo.

The Heat lost Jimmy Butler to illness in the first quarter and briefly lost Adebayo in the third quarter when he was elbowed over the eye by teammate Jaime Jaquez Jr. Adebayo needed seven stitches but returned.

Takeaways

Thunder: Williams’ last season high was 31. And the big difference for the Thunder was the turnovers – they turned 19 Miami giveaways into 27 points.

Heat: Managing general partner Micky Arison and senior director of team development Ruth Riley Hunter — an NCAA, Olympic and WNBA champion — are Basketball Hall of Fame inductees for the class of 2025. “It’s about time” for Arison, the Heat said coach Erik Spoelstra , who added that the likes of Hunter — with college, pro and Olympic titles — should be a Hall lock.

Key moment

Oklahoma City trailed by three midway through the third quarter and then went on a 10-0 run to kickstart a closing push. The Thunder were up by 11 entering the fourth.

Key state

Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 25 points in 17 straight games, the longest such streak in the NBA this season.

Next

The Thunder host Washington on Monday. The Heat are in Orlando on Saturday.

——

AP NBA: