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WASHINGTON: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander matched his career high with 45 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Indiana Pacers 120-114 on Thursday, stretching their NBA win streak to nine games.

The 26-year-old Canadian guard made 15-of-22 shots from the floor, 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and all 11 of his free throws while adding seven rebounds, eight assists, two blocked shots and a steal in a maestro performance.

“It’s the extra plays that put you over the edge,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have a group of guys that are hungry to do whatever it takes to win and that’s why we win.”

Jalen Williams added 20 points and Isaiah Hartenstein contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder in his 11th double-double of the season.

The Western Conference-leading Thunder are 24-5 and on a roll despite a loss in the NBA Cup final to Milwaukee that didn’t count against them in the regular season.

“The main thing is it’s genuine,” said Hartenstein. “We’re not coming in trying to fake something. We really all support each other.

“We’re not trying to put something on for the TV or for the world to see. We’re really supporting each other and I think that’s what makes it special.”

Andrew Nembhard led the host Pacers (15-16) with 23 points. Indiana took a 61-53 half-time lead before the Thunder struck in the second half and closed the game on a 17-7 run for the victory.

“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But that’s what good teams do, play through situations and because we did that we got the W.”

Gilgeous-Alexander, who set his career high of 45 points last month in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, sank a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma City a 114-109 edge with 59 seconds remaining and sank six free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the triumph.

His crucial 3-pointer came after extra work on his outside shooting and confidence to keep firing after a miss.

“It feels good, but that’s what the work is about,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It went in because I took the shot.

“In the past, I probably would have gotten discouraged missing one and not shooting it, but I would like to think I’ve grown a bit, enough to trust in my work, take a shot, stay true to it and it paid off tonight because of that.

“But it’s about continuing to push forward. I’m going to miss some and I’m going to make some. You’ve always got to stay shooting.”

In a Florida showdown, Tyler Herro sank a jump shot with 0.1 of a second remaining to give the Miami Heat an 89-88 NBA thriller triumph over the host Orlando Magic.

Herro scored 20 points to lead the Heat, whose president Pat Riley said hours earlier that the team has no plans to trade All-Star forward Jimmy Butler.

At Washington, the NBA-worst Wizards improved to 5-23 by beating Charlotte 113-110 as Jordan Poole scored 25 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer for Washington with 8.1 seconds remaining.

Host Atlanta got 30 points and 15 rebounds from Jalen Johnson and 27 points and 13 assists from Trae Young in a 141-133 triumph over Chicago. Zach LaVine had 37 points in a losing cause.

The Houston Rockets, led by 30 points from Jalen Green and 27 off the bench by Cam Whitmore, beat host New Orleans 128-111.

With stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard out due to illness, the Milwaukee Bucks lost at home to Brooklyn 111-105 as Cameron Johnson led the Nets with 29 points.

Zach Edey had 21 points and 16 rebounds and Jaren Jackson added 21 points and 11 rebounds to spark the Memphis Grizzlies over visiting Toronto 155-126.

LONDON: Erling Haaland’s failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes’ latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.

There were no such problems Thursday for Liverpool, who rallied to a 3-1 win over Leicester in foggy conditions at Anfield and moved seven points clear atop the standings approaching the halfway point of the campaign.

City dropped more points in their improbably poor run of form by drawing 1-1 at home to Everton, with Haaland having a spot kick saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 53rd minute.

The four-time defending champions have only won one of their last 13 games in all competitions and manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged he needs to spend in the January transfer window to reverse City’s slide.

“The transfer window in the winter is not easy, but even the players know that we have to add some new players,” said Guardiola, who has had to cope without a host of key players, including Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, through injury this season.

While City are languishing in seventh place, United are even further adrift in 14th place after a 2-0 loss at lowly Wolverhampton.

United played almost the entire second half with 10 men after Fernandes collected his second yellow card in the 47th minute. It was the United captain’s third sending-off of the season, though one was rescinded.

After seeing second-place Chelsea also drop points after conceding in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Fulham, Liverpool recovered from conceding in the sixth minute against Leicester to extend their lead. Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s goals.

Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Tottenham and are a big surprise in third place.

City pain

City secured only their fifth point in the league since the end of October but that will be scant consolation to Guardiola, whose beleaguered team squandered a winning position after going ahead through Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot in the 14th. Iliman Ndiaye equalized in the 36th.

Haaland’s penalty failure means the Norway international has only scored once in his last seven games. He headed in from the rebound after his spot kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Haaland, who last week admitted his form had not been good enough during a run that has seen City’s season unravel, held his head in his hands after his failure to score from the spot. He still has 18 goals in 25 appearances this season, but has not scored in a win for his club since the 1-0 victory against Southampton on Oct. 26.

“We shoot a lot in the 18-yard box, but unfortunately we could not get the results that we wanted,” Guardiola said.

City’s damaging run has seen them slip down the standings in the league and crash out of the English League Cup. Guardiola’s team is also in danger of missing out on qualifying in the Champions League — sitting just one point above the cut-off point with two games left.

Goal from a corner

Wolves’ first goal against United came direct from a corner, with Brazil striker Matheus Cunha seeing his kick curl over the head of goalkeeper Andre Onana and into the far corner in the 58th minute.

“I was shooting — we train to shoot,” Cunha said.

Such goals are rare, though United also conceded from a corner in its 4-3 loss to Tottenham in the English League Cup this month. Son Heung-min scored on that occasion.

Wolves added a second through Hwang Hee-chan in the ninth minute of stoppage time and have won two straight games since Vitor Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil as manager. Cunha has 10 goals this season.

Salah scores again

Salah moved three goals clear of second-place Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot, his 16th of the campaign completing Liverpool’s recovery after Gakpo curled in the equalizer in first-half stoppage time and Jones made it 2-1 in the 49th.

Salah has scored at least one goal in nine of his last 10 league matches, and has 19 goals in all competitions this season.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 20 matches in all competitions, the only defeat all season under new manager Arne Slot coming at home to Forest in the league in September.

“This year feels different,” Salah said of Liverpool’s title chances, “but the most important thing is we need to stay humble.”

Chelsea slump

Chelsea have dropped points in successive games, after drawing 0-0 at Everton last week.

The Blues gave up a lead earned by Cole Palmer in the 16th as Harry Wilson equalized in the 82nd and Rodrigo Muniz grabbed a late winner for Fulham, which won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 45 years.

Arsenal can now jump from fourth to second with a win against Ipswich on Friday.

Forest win again

Forest’s remarkable season shows little sign of slowing after Anthony Elanga’s winner against Tottenham at the City Ground. Forest are a point behind Chelsea.

Aston Villa was already a goal down to Newcastle after Anthony Gordon’s strike in the second minute when Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd. Alexander Isak and Joelinton added goals for the hosts in a 3-0 win.

West Ham had to cope with first-half injuries to defender Max Kilman and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but still won 1-0 at Southampton.