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• 'It didn't feel special' – Gilgeous-Alexander shrugs off 40-point haul

  Oklahoma City Thunder talisman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shrugged off his career-high 45 points as he suggested the showing "didn't feel special".

  Gilgeous-Alexander's 14th career 40-point game inspired the Thunder to a 134-126 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.

  Yet Gilgeous-Alexander did not want to play up the importance of his haul, as he instead focuses on pushing for a deeper postseason run this time around.

  "It didn't feel special," Gilgeous-Alexander said. 

  "It didn't feel like I did something I'd never done before. Just felt like another basketball game. I felt like I should have had more, missed some easy shots, but [that's] the game.

  "I don't say this to slight my teammates, but I feel like the end of our season last year in the playoffs, obviously for a lot of them, it was the first time in the playoffs and playing games that meaningful.

  "I don't want to say they weren't ready, but I feel like I could have equipped them better throughout the year in taking [certain] shots, getting to spots and being more comfortable in certain positions on the court, especially offensively.

  "I feel like in the playoffs we were good defensively and offensively is why we lost. And part of my job is to make sure that my teammates are confident and are ready for big moments."

  Gilgeous-Alexander had to step up against the Clippers, given his star teammate Chet Holmgren faces up to two months out due to a hip injury.

  He is the first player in the Thunder's franchise history to record at least 45 points and five steals in a single game, and he explained how he was set on getting Oklahoma City back on track after their defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in last season's playoffs.

  "When we lost, I thought about why we lost and obviously there's so many things to nitpick," Gilgeous-Alexander said, with the Thunder having gone 9-2 to start the season.

  "But I can only control what I can control, and I try to look at it from through that lens.

  "A lot of people don't recognize it until it's too late. And I don't want it to be too late, so I tried to hit it on the head early."

• Cavs' Mitchell revels in being 'part of history' after flying start

  Donovan Mitchell said "it's great to be part of history" after he propelled the Cleveland Cavaliers to their 12th straight win to start the season.

  Cleveland are just the eighth team in NBA history to reel off a 12-0 record from the start of a campaign.

  The last team to do so was the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who set the NBA record at 24-0.

  Mitchell plundered a season-high 36 points in Monday's 119-113 win over the Chicago Bulls, and the omens are good for the Cavs, given five of the previous seven teams to start the season with a 12-0 record went on to reach the NBA Finals.

  "It's great to be part of history," said Mitchell.

  "I never want to take those things for granted along the road when we're doing it in various ways.

  "We're doing it in ways where we are blowing out teams. We're winning from behind. We're winning close games.

  "And it's somebody different every night leading the charge. It's always a group effort."

  For first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, the level of focus displayed by his team is the most pleasing aspect of their excellent start.

  "This group is locked in," he said.

  "I do think there's [been] questions about this group, whether they can get to the next level, can they make the next step?

  "So, I think when you have that, you have that chip [on your shoulder], you focus even more.

  "There's another level of concentration, another level of focus, another level of detail that these guys use to carry us to 12-0 so far."

  And Mitchell, who is averaging 22.5 points per game this season, knows the Cavs cannot step off the gas.

  "It's great. We're playing well, vibes are good, but we have to continue to be this team," Mitchell added.

  "That's been my message to the guys in the locker room.

  "We're going to get teams' best shots. We're going to get tested early, but are we going to continue? No doubt we will, [but] are we going to continue to be this team January, February, March, April?

  "I think the guys all feel it, but it's great to enjoy these moments too while you're still having a humble approach to it."

• Cavs become eighth NBA team to start 12-0

  Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points and sparked a second-half rally that lifted the still-unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers to a 119-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

  Cleveland fought back from a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter to become only the eighth team in NBA history to begin a season 12-0. The Cavaliers are the only team to win each of its first 12 games while scoring at least 110 points in all of those contests.

  Darius Garland added 17 points and Evan Mobley had 15 with 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which once again received a big contribution from its second unit. Reserves Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and Ty Jerome each recorded 12 points, with Jerome dishing out six assists as well.

  Zach LaVine had 26 points on 12-of-20 shooting in his second outing back from a three-game absence, but Chicago was hurt by 20 turnovers and lost for the fifth time in six games.

  Nikola Vucevic and Coby White each finished with 20 points for the Bulls, while Josh Giddey scored 18 to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.

  Cleveland trailed 85-76 with four minutes left in the third quarter before getting back into it with a 9-0 run led by its bench. LeVert and Dean Wade started the flurry with back-to-back 3-pointers before Niang converted a three-point play to tie the game with 2:53 left in the period.

  The teams were again tied at 106-106 with five minutes to go, but the Cavs put together a 9-2 spurt capped by LeVert's 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining to go ahead for good.

  Cleveland owned a 52-42 lead midway through the second quarter before the Bulls answered with a 14-2 run to take a 56-54 edge with four minutes to play before half-time.

  Gilgeous-Alexander scores career-high 45 as Thunder bounce back

  One night after losing one of their star players for an extended period, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned to their winning ways behind a huge performance from another.

  Shai Gilgeous-Alexander racked up a career-high 45 points as Oklahoma City got back in the win column with a 134-128 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

  The Thunder were coming off Sunday's 127-116 home defeat to the Golden State Warriors in which starting center Chet Holmgren suffered a pelvic fracture that will sideline him at least eight weeks. With the 7-footer unavailable, the Clippers recorded a 47-29 rebounding advantage while also going 20 of 37 (54.1 per cent) from 3-point range.

  Oklahoma City still prevailed in large part due to Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished 13 of 21 from the field and 15 of 16 from the foul line while adding nine assists.

  The Thunder also received a big 28-point, eight-rebound, six-assist effort from Jalen Williams and 19 points from Luguentz Dort to overcome a 31-point display from Los Angeles' Norman Powell, who went 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.

  Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak snapped despite Ivica Zubac's 22 points and 14 rebounds and a near triple-double from James Harden, who tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

  The Clippers couldn't stop Gilgeous-Alexander, though, as the two-time All-Star put up 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the first half to propel the Thunder to a 66-53 lead at intermission.

  Oklahoma City's margin swelled to 20 points in the third quarter, though Los Angeles closed out the period with an 11-2 run to pull within 99-94 on Powell's 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

  The Clippers cut the lead to two late when Zubac converted a three-point play to make the score 130-128 with 42.3 seconds left. Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws on the other end, however, before Willams sealed the outcome with a dunk off a Harden turnover.

  Wembanyama dominates as Spurs cruise past Kings

  Victor Wembanyama joined an elite group of NBA players with a 34-point, 14-rebound effort that carried the San Antonio Spurs to a 116-96 win over the Sacramento Kings.

  The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year added six assists in his 82nd career game and became only the sixth player in league history to record 1,700 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists over a first full season. That list includes such legends as Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird.

  Chris Paul contributed 12 points and 11 assists for San Antonio, which had lost three of its previous four games but got back on track by making a season-high 22 shots from 3-point range. Wembanyama led the way in that category as well by going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.

  The Kings, coming off an overtime win at Phoenix on Sunday, built a 31-22 lead early in the second quarter but relinquished it before the end of the first half. 

  San Antonio answered with a 10-2 run to cut its deficit to one, then closed out the half with seven straight points to own a 60-55 edge on Paul's 3-pointer at the buzzer.

  The Kings then shot just 25 per cent in the third quarter while being outscored by a 24-16 margin for the period as the Spurs took an 84-71 lead into the fourth. Their margin never dipped below double-digits over the final 12 minutes.

  De'Aaron Fox paced Sacramento with 24 points, while Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 12 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan finished with 21 points in the loss.