Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Playing Tonight? (Injury Update, Betting Impact for Thunder vs. Knicks)

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a huge matchup on Wednesday night against the New York Knicks, and they're hoping to have MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back in action.

SGA missed time in February with an abdominal strain, and the Thunder ruled him out on the front end of a back-to-back on Tuesday in a win over the Chicago Bulls. The move was likely to have the star guard healthy for a crucial matchup with the Knicks after he played over 33 minutes in each of his first two games since returning.

Gilgeous-Alexander can only miss five more games in the 2025-26 season to remain eligible for the MVP award (where he is currently the favorite). OKC has fared pretty well without him, going 8-4 after beating Chicago on Tuesday.

However, bettors should expect SGA to be back in action on Wednesday since he was ruled out for "injury management" on Tuesday. The Thunder didn't need the star guard to beat a tanking Chicago team, but they will likely need him against a Knicks team that upset the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Oddsmakers have set the Thunder as 4.5-point road favorites, a sign that they expect SGA to be in the lineup. New York is 23-8 at home this season, so it would likely be favored if the reigning MVP ends up sitting.

Here's a look at how to bet on SGA in the prop market in this battle between title contenders.

Best Thunder Prop Bet vs. Knicks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander UNDER 6.5 Assists (-123)

This season, SGA is averaging 6.4 assists on 12.7 potential assists per game, but I’m fading him on the road against this Knicks team.

New York ranks third in the NBA in opponent assists per game, allowing just 24.6 per night this season. In addition to that, the Knicks have been on fire defensively in recent weeks, posting the third-best defensive rating over their last 15 games and the best defensive rating in the NBA over their last 10 games.

That could make things tough on SGA, especially when it comes to getting his teammates involved. The star guard had nine dimes on Feb. 27 in his first game back against the Denver Nuggets, but he was held to five assists in a win over Dallas on Sunday.

Overall, SGA has seven or more dimes in just 22 of his 51 games. He’s going to put up some big numbers scoring the ball just about every night, but I’ll fade him just a bit as a passer on Wednesday.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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