NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Chet Holmgren scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder raced to an early double-digit lead they maintained throughout in a 126-109 victory over the reeling New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points and Lu Dort 17 for the Thunder, who set a franchise record for points in a quarter with 49 in the first. Isaiah Hartenstein added 16 points for Oklahoma City, which won its sixth straight for a 14th victory in 15 games to open the season.
Rookie guard Jeremiah Fears scored a season-high 24 and Trey Murphy III added 18 points for the Pelicans, who've lost six straight for the second time in their first 14 games, and two straight since interim coach James Borrego took over in the wake of Willie Green's firing on Saturday.
New Orleans played without Zion Williamson (hamstring) who missed his ninth game this season. Saddiq Bey (left ankle) also was scratched for New Orleans. Rookie Micah Peavy scored a season-high 16 points for the Pelicans in a reserve role.
Oklahoma City led by 10 less than three minutes into the game and by 20 before eight minutes had elapsed.
The Pelicans committed six turnovers in the first six minutes, at which point the Thunder, leading 24-8, had 13 points off turnovers.
When Brandon Carlson's free throws made it 36-11, Oklahoma City had scored on 15 of their previous 17 possessions.
After the first quarter closed with Oklahoma City leading 49-24, the second quarter was somewhat more competitive. The Pelicans, who shot 52.6% during the first 24 minutes, trimmed their deficit to 13 by halftime, at 69-56.
But the Thunder outscored the Pelicans 24-11 during the opening seven minutes of the third period, leading 93-67 after Holmgren followed up a 3 with a cutting dunk.
Thunder: Hosts the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Pelicans: Host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi, front right, heads to the basket as Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, top right, defends during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
New Orleans Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) tips in a rebound for a basket during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles around New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (2) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
ROME (AP) — Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri and fellow Summer athletes started the torch relay for the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday — marking exactly two months before the Feb. 6 opening ceremony.
Paltrinieri carried the sleek torch around the track of the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico to begin a trek covering 12,000 kilometers (nearly 7,500 miles) that will wind its way through all 110 Italian provinces before reaching Milan’s San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony.
“It’s a pleasure to be part of the Olympic movement even if it’s Winter Olympics,” Paltrinieri said.
In all, there will be 10,001 torch bearers.
At the end of the opening day, police said they stopped two groups of pro-Palestinian activists from coming into contact with the relay route.
Giancarlo Peris, the final torch bearer from the 1960 Olympics in Rome, carried the Olympic flame in a lantern to get the proceedings going. The 84-year-old Peris was 18 when he lit the cauldron at the Stadio Olimpico — which is next to the Stadio dei Marmi — more than 65 years ago.
“I didn't think I would be here today,” Peris said with a chuckle.
Paltrinieri won gold in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and has five Olympic medals in all. He and girlfriend Rossella Fiamingo, a fencer, carried Italy's flag at the closing ceremony for last year's Paris Games.
“I used to ski when I was a kid but then I stopped because it’s a little bit dangerous for me,” Paltrinieri said. “Skiing is my favorite (Winter Olympic sport). ... Alberto Tomba was one of my biggest idols.”
Paltrinieri handed off to retired fencer Elisa Di Francisca, who won two golds at the 2012 London Games.
Next was Gianmarco Tamberi, the 2020 Olympic high jump champion.
Also carrying the torch around Rome on Saturday were tennis player Matteo Berrettini, retired NBA player Andrea Bargnani and former motorcycle racer Max Biaggi.
Actor Ricky Tognazzi carried the torch while riding a white Vespa in a scene reminiscent of the 1953 film “Roman Holiday” featuring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
The torch relay, which includes 60 city celebrations, will be in Naples for Christmas and in Bari for New Year’s Eve. It will reach 2006 Olympics host Turin on Jan 11.
The torch will arrive in Verona on Jan. 18 and pass through Cortina d’Ampezzo on Jan. 26 — on the 70th anniversary of the opening ceremony of the 1956 Winter Olympics held at the resort in the Dolomites.
There will also be a cauldron lit in Cortina on the night of the opening ceremony.
Local organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò noted the torch relay will pass by all of the country's UNESCO World Heritage sites, of which Italy has more than any other country with 61.
“It's like a giant two-month advertisement,” Malagò said.
These Games will be held across a large swath of northern Italy and the ceremony will be observed in four different locations, including Livigno (where snowboarding and freestyle skiing will be contested) and Predazzo (ski jumping).
Skating sports will be in Milan; men’s Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering in Bormio; and women’s Alpine skiing, sliding sports and curling in Cortina.
The next stops on the torch relay are Viterbo on Sunday and Terni on Monday.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Former Italian track athlete Giancarlo Peris, 84, left, who was the final bearer of the Olympic torch for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, holds a lantern with the Olympic flame ahead of the start of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch ceremony in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. The journey will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian former foil fencer and Olympic and world champion Elisa Di Francisca carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri lights the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian high jumper and Olympic gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi, left, receives the flame of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch from Italian former foil fencer and Olympic and world champion Elisa Di Francisca in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian high jumper and Olympic gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri, left, passes the flame of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch to Italian former foil fencer and Olympic and world champion Elisa Di Francisca in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri lights the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
