Ontario’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder reached the NBA Cup final on Saturday, beating the Houston Rockets 111-96.
The Hamilton athlete added eight rebounds and six assists, in addition to making five of his team’s 12 steals.
Montreal’s Luguentz Dort was brilliant, going 5-for-9 on three-pointers. He collected 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Isaiah Hartenstein added a career-high 21 points, one more than Jalen Williams.
OKC will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup final, who beat the Atlanta Hawks. The match will take place Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. on TSN.
Amen Thompson was the most productive for the Rockets, scoring 19 points.
The Thunder finished the third quarter ahead by six points, 75-69.
With Mark Daigneault’s group leading 84-79, SGA dealt a hard blow to Houston by going for six points in a row (three free throws and a long shot). Williams added a basket, then the Thunder cruised to a fifth straight win.
Earlier Saturday, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and the Bucks defeated the Hawks, 110-102.
The “Greek Freak” also had 14 rebounds and nine assists, helping the Bucks win a third straight game.
Damian Lillard added 25 points, including five three-pointers.
Brook Lopez contributed 16 points, six more than Bobby Portis.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 35 points, also grabbing 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Jalen Johnson and De’Andre Hunter had 15 points each.
Milwaukee led by just three points with two minutes left in the final quarter.
From that point on, the Bucks stayed the course following baskets from Lopez and Lillard.