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Boomers coach Brian Goorjian will be anxiously waiting the results of a scan after one of his stars, Josh Giddey, suffered an injury while playing for Oklahoma City in the NBA.
The Thunder guard sprained his left ankle late in the second quarter of the 134-115 win against the Los Angeles Clippers and failed to return to the court.
The 21-year-old had scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting on Friday (AEDT) before he went down when driving at the basket.
Giddey is a key component to Australia’s chances of winning a gold medal at next year’s Paris Olympics.
In his absence, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and Chet Holmgren (23 points) gave OKC the lead for good with a dunk he threw off the backboard to himself en route to ending Los Angeles’ nine-game winning streak.
With Oklahoma City trailing by a point in the third quarter, Holmgren pump-faked Ivica Zubac at the free-throw line, then caught his own lob and threw down a two-handed jam.
“I don’t know where it came from, really, honestly,” Holmgren said.
“That was like an at-the-park move … I guess it just happened.”
Holmgren’s play sparked a 13-0 run and the Thunder led by double digits the rest of the way.
Oklahoma City (18-8), second in the Western Conference standings, began their current three-game winning streak with a victory at the defending champions Denver Nuggets.
James Harden scored 23 points and Paul George added 22 for the Clippers (17-11), who hadn’t lost since falling at Golden State on November 30.
Former Thunder star Russell Westbrook got a standing ovation and was cheered loudly while entering the game for LA in the first quarter. He finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Minnesota, the top team in the West, enjoyed a 118-111 victory at home over the LeBron James-less Lakers.
Anthony Edwards had 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns 21 for the Timberwolves, who tied Boston (21-6) for the overall NBA lead.
Anthony Davis had 31 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles (15-14), who are 1-5 since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament.
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Bucks beat Orlando 118-114 for their sixth consecutive victory.
Milwaukee (21-7) have won 15 straight games at Fiserv Forum, their longest single-season home winning streak since 1991-92, when they won their first 18 at home.
Elsewhere, Dyson Daniels contributed seven points, two rebounds and an assist in New Orleans’ 123-104 win at Cleveland, while fellow Aussie Duop Reath had 10 points and five boards in Portland’s 118-117 home loss to Washington.
There were wins for Memphis, Chicago and Utah, who inflicted a 25th straight defeat on the Pistons – one short of the NBA single-season record.
© AAP
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