Add Category
Australian NBA rookie Josh Giddey has recorded a second straight triple-double and a season-high in points to lift his Oklahoma City Thunder to a 127-123 victory over the New York Knicks.
- Josh Giddey is the first rookie with successive tripl-doubles since Ben Simmons in 2018
- Giddey had a bad turnover late in the fourth quarter, but teammate Darius Bazley sent the game to overtime
- The win in New York stopped a five-game losing streak for the struggling Thunder
Giddey scored 28 points, to go along with 12 assists and 11 rebounds in the overtime win, just a day after he had 11, 10 and 12 in Oklahoma City's 101-106 loss in Chicago.
Earlier this season Giddey made history as the youngest player in NBA history to nab a triple-double, having three different playing stats in double digits.
Giddey's effort helped the Thunder snap a five-game losing skid by posting just their fifth win from the past 22 games.
The 19-year-old is the seventh NBA player to post back-to-back triple-doubles and the first since 2018, when the same feat was achieved by fellow Aussie Ben Simmons, who was traded to Brooklyn last week after an ugly standoff with Philadelphia.
It was not all good news for Giddey in his first game at New York's famous Madison Square Garden, because he threw a bad pass with scores tied and 18 seconds left, turning the ball over and allowing Quentin Grimes to lay the ball in on the breakaway.
Luckily, Darius Bazley added a lay-up of his own, with five seconds remaining, to tie the scores at 112 and the Knicks power forward Julius Randle could not knock down a buzzer-beater, sending the game into overtime.
A Derrick Favors dunk and Tre Mann's lay-up gave Oklahoma City a 120-115 lead midway through overtime.
Evan Fournier sank a three-pointer to trim the deficit, but Favors tipped home a rebound and Mann made two free throws to push the advantage to six points, with 23.3 seconds left.
Randle converted a driving lay-up to cut the deficit to 124-120, and Alec Burks answered Mann's free throws with a 3-pointer on New York's next possession.
Oklahoma City's Ty Jerome missed both free throws after being fouled, with 5.8 seconds left, to give New York a chance, but Immanuel Quickley misfired on a three-point attempt with 3.4 seconds to play.
Giddey made one of two free throws to seal the win.
Reuters/ABC