Field Level Media
Jan 22, 2020
Dennis Schroder tied a season high with 31 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-114 road win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
The win was Oklahoma City's third straight overall and fourth straight on the road.
Orlando lost for the third time in four games.
The second half turned into a shootout between two reserve guards -- Schroder and the Magic's Terrence Ross.
Schroder scored 20 points in the second half.
Ross scored 19 of his season-high-tying 26 points in the second half, going 6 of 11 from the field.
The Thunder led by 15 just past the midpoint of the third quarter before the Magic reeled off a 26-11 run.
Ross lifted Orlando back into the game with 12 points during a two-minute stretch to end the run.
Ross' 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds to go in the quarter tied it, erasing the lead Oklahoma City had held since the opening three minutes.
But Mike Muscala answered with a 3-pointer to put the Thunder back in front heading into the fourth quarter.
A 10-0 run early in the final period extended Oklahoma City's lead back to double figures.
The Magic weren't done yet, though, again charging back.
Orlando cut the deficit to one with just less than five minutes remaining and had two opportunities to take the lead as the Thunder turned the ball over on their next two possessions.
But the Magic couldn't take advantage, and Chris Paul finished with a layup on the next possession.
Orlando never had the ball in a one-possession game the rest of the way, with Schroder's pullup jumper with 32 seconds left all but securing the victory.
Without Steven Adams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took on much of the rebounding load for Oklahoma City. He had 12 rebounds to lead the Thunder and added 18 points.
In Gilgeous-Alexander's first 120 career games, he had no double-digit rebound games. In the past 13 games, Gilgeous-Alexander has five double-digit rebound games, including three in a row and four of the past six.
--Field Level Media