Gilgeous-Alexander scores 40 in Thunder's 10th straight win, 113-108 over Magic

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Orlando Magic 113-108 Tuesday night for their 10th straight win.

Chet Holmgren added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder and Ajay Mitchell had 16 points, five of them during a mid-fourth quarter run that put the Thunder ahead to stay.

Paolo Banchero had 32 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Orlando. Jalen Suggs added 14 points for the Magic, who lost on a second straight night after a seven-game win streak of their own.

Gilgeous-Alexander's record 129th game scoring 20 or more points was accomplished on 14 for 27 shooting and 9 of 11 free throws. He hit 3 of 5 3-point shots, the final one giving the Thunder a 102-96 lead with 3:11 remaining.

His streak of 20-plus point road games, also an NBA record, reached 61 games.

Holmgren scored on three dunks and a midrange jumper while Oklahoma City opened the second quarter on a 19-5 spurt to lead 45-27, the largest lead of the game.

Jevon Carter started Orlando's response with back-to-back 3-pointers, and Banchero opened the third quarter with a scoring burst to put the Magic up by seven points.

Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench when Mitchell scored inside to lift the Thunder to a 91-90 lead with 8:05 left. He followed with a three-point play and Isaiah Joe added a 3-pointer.

Center Isaiah Hartenstein played his third straight scoreless game for the Thunder, finishing with seven rebounds and eight assists in 16 minutes.

Thunder: Play at Brooklyn on Wednesday night.

Magic: Play at Charlotte on Thursday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) pulls down a rebound around Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) and Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) fight for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, defends against Orlando Magic guard Jevon Carter (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) passes the ball around Orlando Magic guard Jevon Carter (2) as he loses his footing during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)

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)

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois voters decided primaries Tuesday for six open U.S. House and Senate seats in contests that became a testing ground for issues shaping the Democratic Party’s future.

From questions about the cryptocurrency and AI industries to immigration enforcement to fracturing U.S. support for Israel, the state’s voters confronted such issues as super PACS poured in millions of dollars into hotly contested races.

The retirement of longtime Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, triggered a competitive campaign, drawing as candidates two sitting House members and the lieutenant governor, among others. Sharp elbows and furious fundraising marked the race, which also was a test of the influence of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire whose name is floated as a 2028 presidential contender.

In the Republican Senate primary, Tuesday's winner was Don Tracy, former state Republican Party chairman.

A spate of House retirements led to open seats with crowded contests across the Chicago area where the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and PACs supporting the cryptocurrency and AI industries spent big on several contests. Most primary winners in the Democratic stronghold are expected to win in November, shaping a new generation of leadership in the state’s congressional delegation.

Ten Democrats and six Republicans ran after Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, announced his retirement after five terms.

Three top Democrats emerged: Chicago-area U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.

Krishnamoorthi dominated fundraising and the airwaves, and was the first on television with ads in July. He started 2026 with over $15 million on hand after spending more than $6 million and raising more than $3.5 million in the final three months of last year, according to campaign finance records.

By comparison, Stratton started the year with $1 million after raising about the same amount and spending just under $1 million in the last three months of 2025. But last month Pritzker put $5 million in a super PAC largely aimed at helping get her elected.

She campaigned on Pritzker’s endorsement and lit into Krishnamoorthi at debates, particularly on the five-term Democrat’s voting record and donations from a contractor tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“That is not the example of somebody who’s going to stand up to Donald Trump and fight for all of our communities,” Stratton said during a debate January. “I want to abolish ICE.”

Krishnamoorthi, who has called to dismantle ICE, said he donated the money to immigrant rights groups. He argued that Stratton zeroed in on him because she “didn’t have any policy ideas. She had to attack.”

Rochelle Brockenborough, 64, said she voted for Stratton at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center in Chicago.

“I wanted to make sure there was no AIPAC money. That’s important to me,” she said, adding that U.S. tax dollars shouldn’t be used to support Israel.

Meanwhile Kelly took issue with Pritzker’s involvement, arguing that a sitting governor should not interfere.

Shana Sumers, 36, said she voted for Kelly to support marginalized communities, such as transgender people. She also called the Iran war “a big distraction.”

“We really need to be able to afford housing, afford health care, afford to go to the grocery store,” Sumers said.

Candidates touted ties to iconic Chicagoans including President Barack Obama and the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died last month. However, an endorsement touted posthumously by Stratton caused a snag as Jackson’s family withdrew it Monday, saying the draft was not meant for public release.

Election officials hoped to see busy polls after statewide turnout in the 2024 primary was 19%, the lowest in more than five decades.

Among issues reported Tuesday were complaints that poll workers in Madison County asked voters to show ID, drawing attention from the local elections office and the state attorney general. Officials in the southern Illinois county said the issue in one precinct was resolved. Showing an ID at a polling place is not required in Illinois.

Tracy bested five other candidates in the GOP's Senate primary. Illinois last had a Republican in the Senate a decade ago, when Mark Kirk was defeated by current Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Dozens of candidates ran for five open seats in the Chicago area, where funding from groups supporting Israel and the cryptocurrency industry played an outsize role.

Ten Democrats and one Republican were on the ballot in Kelly’s district, the 2nd, which spans parts of the South Side and suburbs and dips into the central Illinois farmlands. Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who was backed by AIPAC, emerged as the winner of the crowded Democratic field, which included former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the late civil rights leader, and state Sen. Robert Peters. The support from AIPAC prompted retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, of the 9th District, to withdraw her endorsement of Miller.

The open seat in Krishnamoorthi’s suburban 8th District attracted eight Democratic candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean and Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison.

Two other House members are retiring after long careers.

The 7th District of Rep. Danny Davis, who was first elected in 1996, covers parts of downtown, the West Side and suburbs. Democratic front-runners to replace him included state Rep. La Shawn Ford, City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, developer Jason Friedman and Kina Collins, a community organizer. Two Republicans are running.

The primary field for Schakowsky’s 9th District seat was the most crowded. Among the 15 Democratic candidates were Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, digital creator Kat Abughazaleh and state Sen. Laura Fine. Four Republicans were running.

Another open Chicago area seat was that of Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who announced that he would not seek reelection citing health and personal reasons. The Democratic primary was uncontested after Garcia quietly schemed to place his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, on the ballot without any Democratic competition.

Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, will face Republican Lupe Castillo, who also ran unopposed, in November.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who was unopposed in his primary, is the first governor to seek a third term since the 1980s.

One of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics, Pritzker used his victory speech to tout his efforts to oppose the aggressive federal immigration crackdown in Chicago last year. He criticized Republicans’ agenda, called Trump’s presidency an “unmitigated disaster” and vowing to help Democrats across Illinois win in November.

“This is the fight of our lives,” he told supporters at a downtown Chicago hotel. “Everything we care about is under siege from Washington.”

Pritzker also made digs at Republican candidate Darren Bailey, a former state senator whom he handily defeated in 2022.

Bailey won his party's nomination against a four-candidate field, setting up a November matchup against Pritzker.

Bailey said he would do things differently this time and focused on Chicago. He chose as his running mate Aaron Del Mar, who leads the Republican Party in Cook County.

On the campaign trail, Bailey criticized Pritzker’s leadership, including blaming him for rising costs, saying, “He’s just another billionaire who has never once felt the pain he’s inflicted.”

Associated Press journalists Mike Householder in Chicago and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.

Democratic candidate for Congress, Kat Abughazaleh smiles as she walks to vote on Election Day at Chicago Park District Loyola field house in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is running in the Senate Democratic Primary Election, talks with election judges at Nerge Elementary School polling place in Schaumburg, Ill., Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Democratic candidate for Congress, Kat Abughazaleh, center, casts her vote in a primary election for the upcoming midterms, in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Patty García speaks during a news conference to announce her candidacy for the fourth district congressional race, Nov. 12, 2025, in Cicero, Ill. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)