Thunder beat short-handed 76ers 123-103 for 12th straight win

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points, Jalen Williams added 18 in his return to the lineup and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their 12th game in a row Monday night with a 123-103 victory over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers.

Jared McCain had 13 points for the Thunder in his first game in Philadelphia since last month's trade. The defending NBA champions improved to 57-15, the best record in the league.

VJ Edgecombe scored 35 points for the 76ers, who played without Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George. Philadelphia began the day as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament but was just a half-game back of fifth-place Toronto.

Williams was back in the lineup after missing 16 games with a right hamstring strain.

McCain helped the Thunder jump out to a 35-25 lead after the first quarter with a pair of 3-pointers. Oklahoma City increased its lead to 24 and never was threatened after taking a 65-43 lead into halftime.

Jaylin Williams scored 18 points off the bench, and Chet Holmgren had 17 for the Thunder.

McCain, drafted by the 76ers with the No. 16 overall pick last year, drew loud cheers when he entered in the first quarter. Philadelphia sent McCain to Oklahoma City for draft picks at the February trade deadline. The 76ers are 10-12 since the deal.

Embiid sat out again with a right oblique strain. The 2023 MVP last played on Feb. 26. He worked out on the court Monday and is scheduled to have a more grueling session Tuesday, coach Nick Nurse said. There is still no timetable for Embiid's return.

The 76ers are expected to welcome back George to the lineup for Wednesday's home game against Chicago. George was suspended 25 games for violating the league's drug policy.

Maxey was sidelined for the ninth consecutive game with a right finger tendon strain. Kelly Oubre Jr. (left elbow sprain) has missed seven straight, and Quentin Grimes (illness) also didn't play.

Oklahoma City's Ajay Mitchell also watched while serving a one-game suspension for fighting in Saturday's 132-111 win at Washington. Jaylin Williams and Cason Wallace each were fined for their role in the fight, $50,000 and $35,000, respectively.

Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points in 64 straight road games.

Thunder: At Boston on Wednesday.

76ers: Host Chicago on Wednesday.

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

Oklahoma City Thunder's Jalen Williams (8) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Adem Bona (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 23, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' Marjon Beauchamp, left, goes up for a shot against Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 23, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' Vj Edgecombe, left, tries to get past Oklahoma City Thunder's Jared McCain during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 23, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Oklahoma City Thunder's Alex Caruso, left, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Vj Edgecombe during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 23, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Adem Bona (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 23, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A civil jury in California found Monday that Bill Cosby was liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972 and awarded her $59.25 million.

After a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica, jurors found Cosby, 88, liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger. They awarded her $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million for future damages, including “mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.”

Then in a second phase of the trial Monday afternoon, they awarded an additional $40 million in punitive damages.

Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in an email after the initial award earlier Monday that they are disappointed and fully intend to appeal the verdict. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the punitive damages.

Deliberations lasted about two days.

The decision came nearly five years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania when the state Supreme Court threw out a criminal conviction based on similar allegations. He has settled some similar lawsuits and has been ordered to pay in others, but Monday's award is likely the most he has had to pay in a case.

“This verdict is not just about me – it’s about finally being heard and holding Mr. Cosby accountable,” Motsinger said in a statement. “I have carried the weight of what happened to me for more than 50 years. It never goes away. Today, a jury saw the truth and held him accountable. That means everything. I hope this gives strength to other survivors who are still waiting for their moment to be heard.”

Motsinger had been a server at a restaurant in Sausalito near San Francisco who said in her lawsuit, filed in 2023, that Cosby had invited her to his stand-up comedy show at a theater in nearby San Carlos. Both were in their 30s at the time. She said Cosby gave her wine and two pills that she believed were aspirin, and that she was going in and out of consciousness as two men put her in a limousine.

“She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants,” the lawsuit said. “She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”

In court filings, Cosby's lawyers argued that the allegations rested almost entirely on speculation and assumption, saying Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened.”

Motsinger's lawsuit moved with surprising quickness through the California courts, taking just 2 1/2 years from filing until verdict while other lawsuits against him stalled.

“We are grateful to the jury for their careful attention to the evidence and to Ms. Motsinger for the extraordinary courage it took to come forward,” said Jesse Creed, one of her attorneys from the Panish Shea Ravipudi law firm that represented her.

Cosby did not testify at the trial, whose witnesses included Andrea Constand, the Temple University sports administrator he was convicted of sexually assaulting in a Pennsylvania criminal court in 2018. The state's Supreme Court threw out the verdict and Cosby was freed from prison after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence.

Motsinger first made her allegations anonymously in a 2005 lawsuit filed by Constand.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly and consent to be named, as Constand and Motsinger have.

In 2022, a jury in Santa Monica awarded $500,000 to a woman who said Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was a teenager in 1975.

Motsinger's lawsuit echoed allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment made by at least 60 women against Cosby, all of which he has denied.

The former stand-up comedy and television superstar once widely known as “America’s Dad” became the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era before his conviction was permanently thrown out when appeals court found he gave incriminating testimony in a deposition only after believing he had immunity from prosecution.

FILE - Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., on Sept. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Bill Cosby arrives for a sentencing hearing following his sexual assault conviction at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown Pa, on Sept. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)