NBA Top Performers Of The Day, March 21: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Had 31 Points In Oklahoma City's Win Against Clippers

TOP PLAYERS OF THE DAY:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points against the Los Angeles Clippers to help the Oklahoma City Thunder win their eighth game in the last 10.

The Thunder, now 36-36, remain in contention of a playoff spot. The are No. 7 in the Western Conference standings despite many expecting them to have a rebuilding year after No. 1 draft pick Chet Holmgren was injured at the beginning of the season.

OTHERS:

Things were starting to look rocky for the Boston Celtics after a four-game stretch containing losses to the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets. They bounced back with a dominant win against the Sacramento Kings behind a superstar performance from Jayson Tatum. Tatum finished the night with 36 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Tatum tied Larry Bird’s franchise record for the most single-season 30-point performances. In addition, Tatum only had one turnover on a night where Boston turned the ball over just five times. Tatum sometimes struggles in this area but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla credited his cognitive thinking for the victory Tuesday night.

“He just did a great job coming out of the gate,” Mazzulla said. “I thought him and Jaylen did a great job controlling the game with their decision-making.”

The Celtics need more wins like these to keep up with the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

-Trae Young’s 30-point performance helped the Atlanta Hawks complete their season sweep of the Detroit Pistons.

-Donovan Mitchell had 31 points to give the Cleveland Cavaliers the seventh win in their past nine games.

-Brandon Ingram’s 32 points led the New Orleans Pelicans in a blowout win against the San Antonio Spurs.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.