Oklahoma City Thunder vs New York Knicks Match Player Stats On Jan 08, 2021

Hamidou Diallo scored 11 of his season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter Friday night as the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away from the New York Knicks for a 101-89 win.

Diallo also added a season-high 11 rebounds despite coming off the bench for the Thunder, which trailed by 11 points in the first quarter before coming back to win their second straight. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also had a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Al Horford added 15 points and eight assists.

Julius Randle had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. RJ Barrett scored 19 points while Elfrid Payton (16 points) and Austin Rivers (12 points) also got into double digits.

Barrett scored nine points in the first quarter and twice hit layups that put the Knicks ahead by 11 points. The Thunder stormed back and took the lead at 28-26 following an 18-5 run spanning the first two periods. Kenrich Williams ended the run with a game-tying 3-pointer and a go-ahead layup.

The Knicks responded with a 7-0 run, during which they held Oklahoma City scoreless for 3:22. The teams traded the lead three times in the final two minutes before a putback dunk by Mitchell Robinson with just under eight seconds left tied the score 42-42 at the half.

The teams weren't separated by more than three points in the third until the Thunder took a 61-56 lead following a 7-0 run in which Diallo drained a 3-pointer and Gilgeous-Alexander hit back-to-back layups. The teams went cold again over the final three minutes, during which Oklahoma City outscored the Knicks 6-0 until Rivers hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut the gap to 69-63.

Rivers opened the fourth with a driving layup for the Knicks, who closed within five points three more times before a layup by Isaiah Roby began an 8-2 run that ended with Diallo stealing the ball from Randle and converting a fast-break dunk to give the Thunder its first double-digit lead at 86-75 with 4:46 left. New York got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media