Josh Giddey Makes History With Triple-Double as Thunder Beat Knicks

The Thunder rookie also scored a career-high 28 points.

NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Giddey and Tre Mann, Oklahoma City’s two first-round picks from the 2021 NBA Draft were looking forward to playing at Madison Square Garden. They certainly won’t forget the career nights they enjoyed.

Giddey had a triple-double with a career-high 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, Mann scored a career-high 30 points and Oklahoma City rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half, beating the New York Knicks 127-123 in overtime on Monday night.

Giddey, a 19-year-old from Australia, shot 11 for 22 from the field and hit three 3-pointers for the Thunder, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Oklahoma City was playing without injured starters Lou Dort and Shai Gilgegous-Alexander.

“This was the place I was most excited when I got drafted to come in to play,” said Giddey, who was the sixth overall pick in last July’s draft. “You hear so many things, so many stories about the Garden, and I had circled it on my calendar for a long time.”

I love the garden 😁

— josh giddey (@joshgiddey) February 15, 2022

“It was everything I expected,” Giddey said of his first game at MSG. “The fans are awesome. They’re into the game; a packed house. It’s everything I’ve seen on TV, being told about.”

Giddey became the youngest in NBA history with back-to-back triple-double games. He had 11 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds in a losing effort at Chicago on Saturday.

“The style he is playing with is contagious,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think he has a domino effect on the team with how he plays when he is that state of mind. I thought he was in against Chicago and I thought he was in it again tonight.”

Darius Bazley chipped in 23 for Oklahoma City.

Julius Randle had triple-double of 30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for Knicks, who have lost nine of their last 11 games.

“We’re just letting a lot of them go,” Randle said. “Our last five (were) very winnable games.”

The Knicks led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter before Oklahoma City rallied to take a brief 89-97 lead following a 3-pointer by Bazley with 2:45 left.

Mann, the 18th pick in the draft, hit a pair of free throws to give Oklahoma City a 106-104 lead with 5:31 left in regulation before New York’s Evan Fournier capped a 6-0 run with a basket, extending New York‘s lead 110-106.

Mann hit two free throws to make it 110-all with 39 seconds left.

Alec Burks had a chance to win it for New York and came up short before Giddey grabbed the rebound and called timeout.

His inbound bounce-pass to Ty Jerome was picked off by Fournier, who found Quentin Grimes for a layup with 15 second left for a 112-110 lead.

Bazley answered at the other end with a baseline drive layup off the glass, tying the score at 112-all and forcing OT.

Giddey and Mann scored the Thunder’s first two baskets in overtime for a 116-112 lead before Fournier followed with a 3-pointer.

Mann got a pair of free throws to make 126-120 with 14 seconds left and Burks followed with a 3-pointer.

Jerome was fouled on the next possession and missed both free throws, and Quickley failed at the other end on a potential game-tying 3.

New York shook off a slow start in the first quarter, erasing a seven-point deficit and taking a 62-61 lead at the break. The Knicks shot 24 for 53 from the field, and Randle, Robison and Fournier combined for 38 points.

The Knicks opened the third quarter with a 12-3 run to go up 74-64 with 9:46 to play before Oklahoma rallied.

Bazley‘s second shot from long distance during a 9-0 run put the Thunder ahead 89-87 with 2:45 left in the period.

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