Reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder avenged their only loss of the season by beating Portland, 122-95, on Sunday.
The host Thunder improved to an NBA-best 17-1 and stretched their win streak to nine games by defeating the Trail Blazers, who kept them from a perfect start with a 121-119 upset at Portland on 5 November.
Gilgeous-Alexander made 13-of-18 shots from the floor, two-of-three from three-point range, and all nine of his free throws while adding seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
“He’s a killer and we know that,” teammate Ajay Mitchell said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “Seeing him in that zone is always a pleasure to watch.”
Oklahoma City became only the fifth NBA team in the past 30 years to begin a campaign 17-1, joining Cleveland last season, Golden State in 2015, Dallas in 2002 and Chicago in 1996.
Mitchell had 20 points off the bench on 8-of-8 shooting, 2-of-2 from three-point range.
“Glad we got the win. Glad I got a good game. Happy about it,” Mitchell said.
“(The key was) just being prepared and being ready for 48 minutes.”
“We started off well and we just kept going. That’s what we’ve got to keep doing every single game.”
Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 15 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 7-0 at home.
The Los Angeles Lakers, led by 33 points and 11 rebounds from Luka Doncic, stretched their win streak to four games with a 108-106 victory at Utah.
LeBron James, in his first road game of the season after being sidelined by sciatica, scored 17 points in 34 minutes on 8-of-18 shooting but missed all four three-point attempts. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.