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NBA Highlights Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Assist That Includes Blatant Uncalled Travel

Stephen Douglas

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could only laugh after a fourth quarter assist where he spun and bailed himself out by throwing the ball off the glass.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could only laugh after a fourth quarter assist where he spun and bailed himself out by throwing the ball off the glass. / Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images
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The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-103, on Monday night. The Thunder took the lead for good late in the first quarter and won by double digits, but the Grizzlies stuck around for most of the game and it was very close midway through the fourth quarter.

That's when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over. After a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope three made it a 101-97 game with 5:39 remaining, the reigning MVP scored or assisted on five of the Thunder's next seven possessions over a stretch of three and a half minutes. By the time the flurry was over the Thunder were up, 115-99.

It was standard stuff for the reigning MVP as the Thunder improved to 26-3 on the season.

It also wouldn't have been a standard SGA game without a few complaints about the officiating. While he only shot six free throws en route to his 31 points, he did appear to get away with a travel during that fourth quarter run when he went to take a step-back jumper, but decided not to pull the trigger.

Instead he pulled the ball down, shuffled his feet and spun towards the lane. His footwork is so quick it's hard to determine exactly how many times his pivot foot switched or how far he dragged his sneakers during the move, but it sure looks like a travel.

He went from outside that circle to jumping to throw the ball off the glass at the free throw line without dribbling and yet the end result was a pretty cool assist so the NBA posted it on social with the caption, "Skill level on a different planet."

A fitting caption for a move that sure doesn't look legal on Earth.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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