The Oklahoma City Thunder kept their streak intact on Sunday, as did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – but it wasn’t easy.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 and the Thunder pushed their winning streak to eight games with a 116-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

One game after breaking Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s 63-year-old NBA record with his 127th consecutive contest scoring at least 20, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t reach 20 points until 1:46 left in the fourth quarter. The reigning league MVP hit a jumper and was fouled by Anthony Edwards, then made the free throw to extend his streak to 128 games.

Gilgeous-Alexander had a season-low four first-half points on 2-of-10 shooting and just 10 points through three quarters before tallying 10 in the final period.

It was an off-day shooting for the Thunder superstar as he made a season-low 31.8 per cent of his 22 attempts, but he still managed to fuel Oklahoma City’s offence with 10 assists.

Chet Holmgren led the NBA-best Thunder (53-15) with 21 points and nine rebounds and Isaiah Joe had 20 points off the bench.

Julius Randle broke out of his scoring slump with a game-high 32 points, while Edwards scored 19 and Ayo Dosunmu added 18 on 7-of-9 shooting for the Timberwolves (41-27), who lost for the fourth time in five games.

Randle made 11 of 18 shots – including 3 of 5 on 3-pointers – and had 17 first-half points after not scoring more than 14 in any of his previous four games.

Brunson rallies Knicks past Warriors

Jalen Brunson had 30 points and nine assists, and the New York Knicks rallied from 21 points down to beat the short-handed Golden State Warriors 110-107.

The Knicks were lethargic to open their first game back at Madison Square Garden after a five-game road trip, trailing 35-21 at the end of the first quarter and falling behind 46-25 early in the second frame.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and finished with 12 rebounds, while OG Anunoby and Jordan Clarkson each added 14 points.

Mitchell Robinson only scored four points but had 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots in 17 minutes as the Knicks (44-25) won their third straight game.

The Warriors were without arguably their six best players, with Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and Moses Moody sitting either due to long-term injuries or resting on the front end of a back-to-back.

Brandin Podziemski scored 25 points to lead the Warriors (32-35), who have lost five consecutive games.

The game was the opener for Golden State’s six-game road trip, with games in Boston, Detroit and Atlanta looming.

Ingram, Raptors halt Pistons’ revival

Brandon Ingram scored 34 points, RJ Barrett added 27, and the Toronto Raptors pulled ahead with a big third quarter to beat the Detroit Pistons 119-108.

Ingram was 12 of 25 from the field and 4 for 9 from 3-point range as he finished three points shy of his season high.

Barrett shot 11 of 17 from the field, while Jakob Poeltl finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds. Scottie Barnes just missed a triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

The game remained very close into the second half, but the Raptors closed the third quarter on a 26-11 run to create separation.

The win was Toronto’s second in a row after going 2-6 in their previous eight games.

The loss for Detroit snapped their three-game winning streak that was preceded by a season-long four-game losing streak.

Cade Cunningham led the way for the East-leading Pistons (48-19), finishing with 33 points and nine assists. Jalen Duren had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his 33rd double-double of the season.