National Basketball Association
New York 119, Oklahoma City 97
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 13, 2021
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Officials: #40 Leon Wood, #52 Scott Twardoski, #58 Josh Tiven
Attendance: N/A

R.J. Barrett scored a career-high 32 points and Julius Randle had a triple-double to lead the visiting New York Knicks to a 119-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

Randle helped the Knicks take control, scoring 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to help New York extend a 10-point lead to as many as 26 points.

New York turned up the heat defensively after halftime, forcing 11 turnovers and holding the Thunder to just 1-of-14 from behind the 3-point line in the fourth quarter.

Randle also had 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his second triple-double of the season and eighth of his career.

Immanuel Quickley scored 21 of New York's 45 bench points.

The Thunder jumped out to a quick lead, leading by 10 just six minutes into the game.

Oklahoma City was on fire offensively, hitting five of its first six shots and shooting 70.6 percent from the floor in the first quarter. The Thunder made all nine of their shots in the paint and only missed once from inside the arc in leading 31-22 after one quarter.

The Knicks came back strong in the second with 34 points, taking nine more shots than Oklahoma City to take a two-point lead into the break. Alec Burks scored nine of his 15 points in the second.

Derrick Rose missed his fourth consecutive game due to the league's health and safety protocols.

The Knicks were also without Elfrid Payton, who sat out with a strained right hamstring.

Frank Ntilikina made just his second start of the season, though he played just seven minutes as Quickley mostly handled the point-guard duties.

Quickley was 9-of-16 from the floor and made three 3-pointers.

Al Horford led the Thunder with 16 points, going 7-of-9 from the field. Luguentz Dort added 14 points.

Rookie Aleksej Pokusevski, making his second consecutive start after returning from the G League bubble, was just 2-of-11 from the floor. He missed all six 3-pointers he attempted.

The Thunder were without a pair of starters. Point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed the game with a left quad contusion and Darius Bazley sat out his second consecutive game with a left shoulder contusion.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
New York   Oklahoma City
RJ Barrett 32 Scoring Al Horford 16
Julius Randle 12 Assists Luguentz Dort 5
Julius Randle 12 Rebounds Moses Brown 9
Julius Randle 7 Free Throws Made Luguentz Dort 10
RJ Barrett 3 Steals Moses Brown 1
Taj Gibson 1 Blocks Moses Brown 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
New York 119 48.9 14-35 17-22 23 44 2 12 11
Oklahoma City 97 48.7 8-32 15-21 22 40 4 3 18
Upcoming Games
  • Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Thunder have a W/L % of .312 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • New York will play their next game on the road against Brooklyn. The Knicks have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .526 after a loss.