Justin Martinez

“You work hard and you trust the process.” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 20-point streak isn’t just 127 games in the making. It’s a result of years of consistency. On controlling emotions, professional problem solving and setting sights on self-improvement: oklahoman.com/story/sports/n…

@AndrewKSchlecht @EthanBacaNBA Keeping you guys in my thoughts and prayers!

My wife Amy was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and starts chemo therapy tomorrow afternoon. We have felt really encouraged by our community and feel God’s presence through it all. Pray for strength for her and she starts this journey. We believe she will have complete healing, but it will be a long road. I’m thankful for all that have reached out in support of her. Please pray for her + my boys and I through this process

Great week for the Sandfort family

“It’s gonna happen. Stay with it. Be ready to go.” That’s been Aaron Wiggins’ message to two-way rookie Payton Sandfort, who patiently waited for a chance to score his first NBA bucket. And when it came during OKC’s road win over Brooklyn, he was ready. oklahoman.com/story/sports/n…

Asked Aaron Wiggins what it was like to see rookie forward Payton Sandfort get his first NBA bucket: “That was awesome, man. I’ve been talking to him in and out of practices, at games and on the bench, just telling him, ‘It’s gonna come.’ We’ve had some games where we had leads and they got shrunk. He’s waiting on that opportunity, and I just told him, ‘It’s gonna happen. Stay with it. Be ready to go.’ I was happy to be able to be the guy to assist him. That was big time.” On if Sandfort shot an arrow at the bench after his bucket: “He said he blacked out. I asked him, ‘What was your celebration?’ And he was like, ‘I blacked out.’ I don’t know, but I was happy for him.”

Here’s Jared McCain after OKC’s road win over Brooklyn

@Logmey92 Yes sir!

@Justintohoops Always appreciate ya posting full vids of these man.

Here’s Mark Daigneault after OKC’s road win over Brooklyn

Asked Jared McCain what impresses him the most about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 20 points tonight on 8-for-9 shooting from the field: “Just the approach, the approach he has every single game. He takes his craft very serious, and when he comes out on the court you can tell it’s just that confidence. Being able to have 20 points on nine shots is incredible, especially in the NBA and any game. Seeing the work he puts in, I try to emulate everything, watch everything and ask him questions. It’s really awesome to just be firsthand and see what an MVP is like. It’s just awesome.”

Jared McCain on OKC’s unselfishness: “Credit to Sam Presti. He knows how to get players here that just play for one another. I really love these guys, you know? Even this quickly, they’ve really helped me and gave me that confidence to go out there and be myself. When I see that in others, you want to help the other person out. … We play for one another. I think that’s being in this organization and that’s the Thunder way.”

Asked Mark Daigneault what this stat says about OKC’s sustained defensive intensity each night: “I think that’s what it comes from. We’ve got elite defensive talent, first of all. And then that talent plays together and competes every night. We don’t set out for records. We don’t even set out for turnovers on a given night. We’re just trying to win the possessions in any way that we can. And when you do that and you keep your head down, sometimes you look up and you accomplish something that you didn’t even know existed like something like that.”

The OKC Thunder cruised past the Brooklyn Nets for a 121-92 road win. Here are three quick takeaways, from Jared McCain’s big night off the bench to Aaron Wiggins snapping a shooting slump: oklahoman.com/story/sports/n…

Final: Thunder 121, Nets 92 Jared McCain: 26 points and 2 blocks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 20 points and 6 assists Aaron Wiggins: 17 points and 7 rebounds OKC (55-15) has now won 10 straight games. Next up is a road game against Washington at 4 p.m. CT Saturday.

Payton Sandfort just cashed in on a corner 3-pointer for his first NBA bucket. The entire Thunder bench got on its feet for that one.

Jared McCain gets the steal and then sinks a 3-pointer. He now has 18 points, two blocks and one steal in 18 minutes off the bench.

End of the third quarter: Thunder 91, Nets 55 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 20 points and 6 assists Aaron Wiggins: 15 points and 5 rebounds Jared McCain: 15 points and 2 blocks

Cason Wallace just blocked a 3-point shot into like the third row. He continues to be everywhere defensively, as he now has two steals and two blocks in 25 minutes.

Aaron Wiggins was 3 for 21 from deep (14.3%) throughout eight games this month, but he's 3 for 6 from deep tonight. Good game so far by Wiggins, who has 15 points in 20 minutes. OKC is up 82-44 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.

Brooklyn's offense is finding a rhythm. After only scoring 24 total points in the first half, the Nets have already scored 15 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored at least 20 points in 130 straight games. It's the longest streak in NBA history.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 16 points and 5 assists Chet Holmgren: 10 points and 1 steal Jared McCain: 10 points and 1 rebound

Halftime: Thunder 60, Nets 24 Brooklyn is on pace to score 48 points. The record for the fewest points scored by a team in an NBA game since the 24-second shot clock was introduced in 1954 is 49 points (Set by Chicago in 1999).