THUNDER WIRE - Picking up Anthony Black’s lost basketball, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander zipped it down the court and found Aaron Wiggins for the easy transition dunk. The defense-to-offense sequence was the exclamation mark. Orlando put a scare in OKC without its top three players but ran out of juice.

The Oklahoma City Thunder escaped with a stressful 105-99 win over the Orlando Magic. The victory is fresh off the heels of an impractical travel schedule for the former that involved flying over three time zones thanks to the NBA Cup final.

“We’ve been dealt an unprecedented hand and we’re trying to see that as a challenge,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Thought our players, from shootaround today, the approach to the day was really, really high level and impressive.”

Early on, it appeared the Thunder would gain some much-needed rest in this Florida back-to-back. They held a 29-28 lead after the first quarter. A 36-point second frame saw OKC enter halftime with a 65-46 advantage.

Orlando’s lack of scorers was painfully obvious. Jalen Suggs suffered an ankle injury that cost him most of the second half. With Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner already out with torn obliques, points would be tough to produce.

The Thunder came out of the break with a hot hand. Isaiah Hartenstein caught an alley-oop and Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the basket for the layup. Suddenly, OKC had a 23-point lead. If held, the massive lead could’ve let its starter rest the final quarter.

Instead, the Thunder were caught daydreaming. The Magic scored 17 straight points. OKC’s offense panicked and settled for contest jumpers that didn’t fall through. The Thunder’s lead was cut to 82-74 after three quarters.

Black then had one of his best offensive stretches. He drove to the basket and feathered in floaters. He cut OKC’s lead to four points in the opening two minutes of the final frame. OKC was on the cusp of disaster with a blown 23-point lead.

It was deja vu from Las Vegas. The old saying goes, ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ — but OKC’s offensive woes traveled. The Thunder offense couldn’t muster up points. Nobody outside of Gilgeous-Alexander had it going. Jalen Williams struggled once again.

Thankfully for the Thunder, those worries were quickly put to rest. Williams snapped out of it and demanded the ball. He dared the Magic to stop him and won that bet. Isaiah Joe splashed a much-needed 3-pointer and Lu Dort sliced through Orlando’s defense to push OKC’s lead back to 10 points with seven minutes left.

Despite Orlando’s best efforts, it simply had no scorers left. Black went cold and the Thunder had a 14-point lead with under five minutes left after Gilgeous-Alexander dished it out to Wiggins for the easy slam. The Magic made a little run at the end but had no time to make it interesting.

The Thunder shot 48% from the field and went 10-of-31 (32.3%) from 3. They went 15-of-16 from the free-throw line. They had 22 assists on 40 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points. Gilgeous-Alexander had an efficient 35 points. Hartenstein had a 12-point double-double. Williams had just 11 points but scored important buckets down the stretch. Wiggins and Alex Caruso scored 11 points respectively.

Meanwhile, the Magic shot 45% from the field and went 11-of-35 (31.4%) from 3. They went 18-of-25 from the free-throw line. They had 26 assists on 35 baskets. Six Magic players scored double-digit points.

Black led the way with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Goga Bitadze contributed with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Suggs was limited to nine points, five rebounds and four assists before he missed most of the second half with an ankle injury.

It wasn’t the prettiest win but a gutsy one for the Thunder. Considering the Las Vegas hangover and the Magic’s absences, this had scheduled loss written all over it — but OKC left with a win. That’s what championship contenders do.

“Unprecedented hand we’ve been dealt with basically a West Coast road trip for six days,” Daigneault said. “Today is day seven on the road for us and we traveled three time zones, four hours to play three games in four nights in three different cities. That’s the hand. We’re trying to play it. I thought the guys did a great job at playing it tonight.”

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