NBA PLAYOFFS

THUNDER CRUISE PAST SUNS AGAIN BUT LOSE JALEN WILLIAMS (HAMSTRING)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and dished out nine assists, leading Oklahoma City to a 120-107 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and giving the Thunder a 2-0 lead in a first-round Western Conference playoff series.

The victory, however, might have been a costly one.

Thunder star Jalen Williams, who was limited to just 33 games during the regular season due to injuries, left the game midway through the third quarter due to a left hamstring injury.

Williams pulled up during a drive toward the bucket and then grabbed at the hamstring as action went the other way.

Williams, who did not return, missed two long stretches of the season with an injuries to his right wrist and right hamstring.

Before getting hurt, Williams was excellent, logging 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and four assists in 23 minutes.

Oklahoma City seized control in the third quarter, thanks in large part to Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren.

Holmgren grabbed rebounds on each of the first three possessions of the half and had 11 points and three blocks in the quarter while Gilgeous-Alexander had 12 points and four assists in the period.

Holmgren finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

The Thunder stretched their lead to 23 with a 13-2 run to end the third and then to 26 early in the fourth.

The Suns cut the deficit to 10 with nearly four minutes remaining, but coming out of a timeout, Ajay Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to stretch the gap to 113-100.

Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth.

After a slow start in Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander missed his first three shots on Wednesday, then found the range. He hit 7 of 10 shots the rest of the first half.

After going 5 of 18 from the field in the series opener, Gilgeous-Alexander finished 13 of 25 in Game 2.

Early in the third quarter, Brooks and Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort got tangled up battling for a potential rebound off a free throw. The two quickly stepped away from each other, but each was whistled for a technical foul.

Late in the quarter, Devin Booker was called for a technical after bouncing the ball off Williams while trying to keep the ball in play.

Booker finished with 22 points while Jalen Green had 21 in the loss.

Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday in Phoenix.

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SHOOTING WOES SINK MAGIC AS PISTONS EVEN UP SERIES IN G2

Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and had 11 assists and Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds on Wednesday night as the Detroit Pistons bounced back to even their Eastern Conference playoff series with a 98-83 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic.

Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson each had 11 points for the Pistons, who snapped an 11-game home playoff game losing streak, the longest in NBA history. Duncan Robinson and Isaiah Stewart also scored 10 apiece for Detroit, which last won a home playoff game in 2008.

Jalen Suggs scored 19 points and Paolo Banchero added 18 for the eighth-seeded Magic. Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane also had 12 points for Orlando which connected on only 26 of 80 field goal attempts, including just eight of 32 3-pointers.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Orlando.

After a defensive struggle in the first half for both teams, Detroit broke the game open in the third quarter, starting with a 30-3 run. The Pistons, who scored the first 11 points before Bane nailed a 3-pointer, outscored the Magic 38-16 in the quarter. Orlando hit only five shots, committed six turnovers and trailed by as much as 27 points.

The Pistons maintained a comfortable cushion through the final quarter, allowing the Magic to get no closer than 97-83 with less than a minute remaining.

The first quarter was a defensive battle with the Pistons holding on for a 25-21 lead. Detroit, which led by as much as seven points, held Orlando to 26.9 percent shooting from the field while the Magic forced eight Pistons turnovers and briefly went in front 21-20.

NBA Game Recaps

The two teams continued the defensive intensity in the second quarter which featured four ties and two lead changes. Detroit took an eight-point lead early in the quarter, but Orlando scored four of the last five points to tie the game at 46 at halftime.

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