OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 20 points and 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-103 on Sunday for their eighth straight win.
Gilgeous-Alexander barely extended his record streak of games with at least 20 points to 128. He had just 10 points heading into the fourth, and he re-entered the game with 7:10 left after resting.
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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, right, looks for an opening past Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren, left, and guard Ajay Mitchell, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, right, looks for an opening past Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren, left, and guard Ajay Mitchell, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, right, pushes past Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams, bottom, keeps the ball away from Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, top, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, pushes past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, pushes past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
He scored on a stepback against Anthony Edwards with 1:46 remaining and was fouled to reach 19 points. With the crowd standing and chanting “M-V-P!” he drained the free throw to keep the streak alive and push himself further past Wilt Chamberlain's old mark of 126.
Chet Holmgren had 21 points and nine rebounds and Isaiah Joe added 20 points for the Thunder, who improved to a league-best 53-15.
Julius Randle scored 32 points and Edwards added 19 for the Timberwolves.
The Thunder forced 22 turnovers while committing just seven. Oklahoma City attempted 101 shots while Minnesota tried 77.
Oklahoma City ran out to a 9-0 lead and held the Timberwolves scoreless for nearly three minutes at the start.
Minnesota recovered and led 53-47 at halftime. Gilgeous-Alexander scored just four points on 2-for-10 shooting before the break.
Minnesota pushed its lead to 68-59 midway through the third quarter before the Thunder rallied. A 3-pointer by Jaylin Williams that bounced before going in gave Oklahoma City a 78-73 edge, and the Thunder took an 80-76 lead into the fourth.
Oklahoma City took control early in the final period. Jared McCain caught a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Isaiah Hartenstein and drained a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma City a 91-80 lead. The two connected again, this time with Hartenstein's two-handed pass bouncing between his legs and behind him. McCain's 3 put the Thunder ahead 94-81.
Timberwolves: Host Phoenix on Tuesday.
Thunder: Visit Orlando on Tuesday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, right, looks for an opening past Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren, left, and guard Ajay Mitchell, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, right, pushes past Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams, bottom, keeps the ball away from Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, top, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, pushes past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, pushes past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
CAIRO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's appeal to China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe” brought no commitments on Sunday as oil prices soar during the Iran war.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS that Tehran has been “approached by a number of countries” seeking safe passage for their vessels, “and this is up to our military to decide.” He said a group of vessels from “different countries” had been allowed to pass, without providing details.
Iran has said the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil exports normally pass, is open to all except the United States and its allies.
“We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about finding a way to end the war, Araghchi added, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks on Iran's nuclear program. Araghchi also said Tehran had “no plan to recover” enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC he has been “in dialogue” with some of the countries Trump mentioned, and said he expected China “will be a constructive partner” in reopening the strait.
But countries made no promises.
A spokesperson for China’s embassy to the U.S., Liu Pengyu, said “all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply” and that China would “strengthen communication with relevant parties” for de-escalation.
“We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because it’s so important that we get the strait reopened,” U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News, adding that ending the war is the “best and surest” way to do it.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it “takes note” of Trump’s call and that it “will closely coordinate and carefully review” the situation with the U.S.
Expectations are high that Trump will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House.
France previously said it is working with countries — President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has subsided.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, which was not mentioned in Trump's call, told ARD television: “Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.”
Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks “will soon start flowing to global markets,” the International Energy Agency said Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices “by far the largest ever.”
It updated last week’s announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks “immediately,” and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released “from the end of March.”
Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain reported new missile or drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates — the first time it has threatened a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.
Tehran has accused the U.S. of launching Friday's strikes on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s primary oil terminal, from the UAE, without providing evidence. It has threatened to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” if its oil infrastructure is hit.
U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields.
Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.
In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Iran’s Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.
Iran’s government on Sunday showed journalists buildings damaged by strikes in Tehran on Friday. A police station was hit and surrounding buildings were damaged. Some apartments’ outer walls had been stripped away.
“God had mercy on all of us,” said Elham Movagghari, a resident. Other Iranians are leaving the country.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, since Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people — nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon — have been displaced.
Israel said it continued to strike Iran. Iran fired missiles toward Israel.
Several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area, where they caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire. Magen David Adom, Israel’s rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building.
Israel’s military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defenses and scatter submunitions across multiple locations.
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Frankel from Jerusalem and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press journalists Sally Abou AlJoud and Fadi Tawil in Beirut, John Leicester in Paris and Fatima Hussein and Tia Goldenberg in Washington contributed to this report.
This version corrects to say Araghchi was speaking to CBS, not NBC as previously reported.
People walk past tents sheltering people displaced by Israeli airstrikes at a public space along the Beirut waterfront at sunset in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
People gather outside an apartment building damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People shout slogans during an anti U.S. and Israeli rally outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, March 15, 2026. The sign reads in Turkish: "Leave NATO, close the bases." (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Heavy rain falls over tents sheltering people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf towards Strait of Hormuz in United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Firefighters extinguish fire at a site damaged during an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Home Front Command officer works at an apartment damaged after an Iranian strike in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Smoke rises from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man photographs the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)
Mourners react during the funeral ceremony for Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
