Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left) passes the ball past Portland Trail Blazers rival Trendon Watford (2) in the first half of an NBA game that faced the two teams in Portland, Oregon on February 10, 2023 (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 44 points and led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 138-129 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.

Josh Giddey had 19 points for the Thunder, which had lost three of its previous five games.

Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 38 points, while Jerami Grant added 23.

Although it was a home and away game, Portland seemed to pull away in the fourth on Anfernee Simons’ 3-pointer that gave them a 112-103 lead.

But the Thunder moved to 112-111 on Isaiah Joe’s 3-pointer and took the lead on Giddey’s layup with 7:31 to go. Lillard responded with another that gave the Blazers a slight lead.

The Gilgeous-Alexander dunk put Oklahoma City up 119-114 with 5:22 left, and Lu Dort’s 3-pointer with 2:45 left seemed to seal the win at 129-121. Dort finished with 18 points coming off the bench.

The Trail Blazers have included in their starting lineup Cam Reddish, acquired in a trade with the Knicks before the trade market closed Thursday afternoon. Reddish finished with 11 points in place of Josh Hart, who left for New York on the trade.

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