Las Vegas, Dec 15 (NationPress) The Oklahoma City Thunder mounted a thrilling comeback against the Houston Rockets, after a challenging first half, to clinch a 111-96 victory on Sunday (IST).

Similar to their quarter-final clash against the Dallas Mavericks, a dominant third quarter by OKC enabled them to advance to the 2024 NBA Cup finals, where they will face formidable rivals in the Milwaukee Bucks.

OKC was led by their star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 32 points during the game, with significant contributions from Isaiah Hartenstein, who achieved a career-high 21 points, and Jalen Williams, who added 20 points.

"It's fun. It makes you better. That's what this league is about, competing against the best in the world, and defensively he is that for sure. I like to think that of myself offensively. He gives me a chance to really see where I'm at, a good test. I'd say I handled it pretty well," commented Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Although Shai struggled initially, missing eight of his first nine shots, his teammates provided crucial support during his slump.

"We all knew that it's Shai. He's going to get it back on point. He did it in the second half," remarked Thunder center Hartenstein.

After only scoring 41 points in the first half, OKC surged in the third quarter, netting 34 points, with Lu Dort hitting three three-point shots in that quarter, bringing vital momentum to the number-one seed in the west as they secured a comfortable victory.

"We were getting the same looks. I think we slowed down a little bit. There's so much going on in these games, kind of had to settle in the first half, but our defense was great, so that carried over the whole game. Offense comes and goes, but you can play defense and kind of shut certain things down. I think we did a good job of that, and offense came late," stated Thunder forward Jalen Williams.