SportyTV | NBA: Thunder first NBA team to 50 wins

The Oklahoma City Thunder became the first team in the NBA to reach 50 wins by holding on to defeat the Golden State Warriors 104-97 on Saturday.

Oklahoma City (50-15) won their fifth consecutive contest and increased their lead to three games over the San Antonio Spurs (46-17) for the best record in the Western Conference.

It wasn’t easy, though, after the Thunder led by 13 points at half-time.

Oklahoma City combined for just 37 points in the second half but managed to hang on by holding the Warriors (32-31) to 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 to post his 125th straight game with 20 or more points and climb within one of matching Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record.

Gui Santos had a career-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds for the Warriors in their ninth loss in 14 games.

Golden State are in eighth place in the West, one game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers (31-32).

50th W pic.twitter.com/iZDTr4yNf3
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 8, 2026

Magic cool off Timberwolves

Desmond Bane had 30 points and Paolo Banchero scored 25 to go along with 15 rebounds as the Orlando Magic ended the Minnesota Timberwolves’ five-game winning streak with a 119-92 victory.

The Magic (34-28) won their third straight game and moved percentage points ahead of the Miami Heat (35-29) for first place in the Southeast Division.

The Timberwolves (40-24) entered amid a stretch of eight wins in nine games, but they couldn’t recover after Orlando ended the first half on a 19-2 run and grabbed a 10-point advantage at the break.

Anthony Edwards scored 34 points to lead Minnesota, who are in fourth place in the Western Conference.

The Timberwolves set season lows with 35.7 per cent shooting overall and 22.5 per cent from three-point range while being held under 100 points for just the fourth time in 2025-26 – with half of those instances coming in the last five games.

WAGIC WIN pic.twitter.com/pb8V3LzrW5
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) March 7, 2026

Surging Hawks get past slumping 76ers

The Atlanta Hawks pushed their winning streak to a season-high six games behind a dominant performance from Jalen Johnson in an important 125-116 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Johnson, named an All-Star for the first time this season, had 35 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals as Atlanta (33-31) pulled within 1 ½ games of eighth-place Philadelphia (34-29) in the Eastern Conference.

The Hawks, who had not won six in a row since November 27 – December 6, 2024, are also two games behind the Orlando Magic (34-28) and Miami Heat (35-29) for the top spot in the Southeast Division.

The 76ers (34-29) fell for the third time in four games and lost All-Star Tyrese Maxey to a right-hand injury with 16 seconds remaining after Philadelphia’s leading scorer had 31 points, five assists and four steals in 38 minutes.

Quentin Grimes added 26 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 for the 76ers, who took a seven-point lead at half-time but were outscored 59-43 over the last two quarters.