NEW YORK (AP) -- Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points in 27 minutes and was one of six Oklahoma City Memphis Grizzlies players to finish in double numbers as the Thunder routed the New
York Knicks 126-103 on Friday night. Chris Paul added 21 points and 12 assists for Oklahoma
City, which has won two straight an seven of 10. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored
18 factors. Dennis Schroder and Hamidou Diallo had 16 and 12, respectively, off
the bench, and Steven Adams contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds. Despite an
18-point performance from Elfrid Payton, New York has dropped consecutive online
games, and has lost eight of 10. RJ Barrett scored 17 factors, Bobby Portis
added 14, Julius Randle chipped in with 12, and Mitchell Robinson had 11. The
matchup between a team readying itself for the upcoming playoffs and the other
preparing for the draft lottery played out exactly as expected. The Thunder
started to take control of the game midway through the second quarter and led
61-48 at halftime. They did not let up in the next half as the advantage grew to
34 National
Basketball Association points after Paul drilled a 3 with 9:50 left in the
fourth quarter. Oklahoma Town is guard-oriented team, but that didn't stop the
Thunder from attacking the interior. They finished with 58 factors in the paint.
TIP-INS: THUNDER: The game could have been Paul's audition for the Knicks, as
there is speculation suggesting the long-beleaguered franchise could trade for
Oklahoma City's veteran stage guard this summer. Paul, whose former agent Leon
Rose is now the president of the Knicks, entered the overall game averaging 17.5
points and 6.7 assists, and was named to the All-Star group. Paul, 34, is
certainly in his 15th time of year. He has has two years remaining on a
four-calendar year, $159.7 million contract that pays him an average salary of
$39.9 million. He will be 36 years previous when the deal expires at the end of
the 2021-22 season. KNICKS: Amongst other aspects of the game, perimeter
shooting has not been New York's forte this season. The Knicks entered the
overall game averaging .338 percent shooting from 3, which ranks 27th in the
league. By comparison, New York's opponents have made .383 percent of 3s against
the Knicks Jordan
mourns Kobe this year.