Gilgeous-Alexander Leads Top Performers in Upset Win of the Year

The Thunder notched a road win over the hottest team in the West and the reigning MVP behind SGA's 29 points.

Wednesday night, Oklahoma City came away with one of the most surprising victories off the season. The young squad, missing more than half of its roster, travelled to Denver, controlled the pace of the entire game and beat the Nuggets 119-107.

Both teams exchanged small first half runs, but nothing insurmountable as it was a pretty even contest. OKC was without a good portion of its bench, once again heavily relying on G-League players.

Isaiah Roby did a good amount of his work in the first quarter, where he started of his night hot from downtown. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was also able to get off to a quick first quarter start and pace the Thunder the rest of the game.

Ultimately, 3-point shooting told the story for OKC tonight. As a team that’s not normally known to be a good shooting team, really at all, the volume that the Thunder made from deep was impressive. OKC was a scorching hot 16-for-29 from behind the 3-point line, good for 55.2%.

Oklahoma City also greatly struggles on the glass most night’s, but that was not the case Wednesday. The Thunder played the reigning MVP in dominant big man Nikola Jokic and somehow out rebounded the Nuggets 50-47. Jokic still had a dominant performance, leading the Nuggets with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

Here are the top performers that led OKC to victory:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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Once again, Gilgeous-Alexander had a massive night. The Thunder star is on a complete tear and has rediscovered his touch from long range.

Against Denver, SGA finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He shot 10-for-23 from the floor overall and 3-for-5 from deep. In four games since returning from injury, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging an impressive 33.5 points per night.

The Kentucky product is also getting a chance to be the main ball handler with Josh Giddey sidelined. As the two continue to grow together, it’s important that each is able to shine.

Aleksej Pokusevski

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In a rare start for Poku, he delivered with one of the most chaotic stat lines of the season. The Serbian forward notched nine points (4-of-9) to go along with 11 rebounds. He also added three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Poku continues to look more comfortable with each passing game. His stats are on the rise and he is contributing real minutes.

His ability to affect the game should excite Thunder fans. He has consistently pushed the pace in transition and finished over people the last few games. Wednesday night, he was key in the Thunder’s upset win.

Isaiah Roby

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Roby notched the surprise performance of the season. Going up against the former MVP is never an easy task, and on an undersized Thunder team, probably not a popular task to take on.

He delivered with his best game of the season, and potentially his career, delivering 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He also drilled 4-of-5 3-point attempts.

Roby is playing limited minutes this year, but his numbers are once again impressive. The forward is averaging 7.9 points and four rebounds on 52% shooting and 42.9% from 3-point range.

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