Josh Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Took Control of OKC Thunder Season
When watching the Oklahoma City Thunder play, it’s clear that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the driving force of this team, sometimes on both sides of the ball.
However, Josh Giddey certainly aided him in leading this team to the Play-In Tournament this season.
The two players combined to lead the Thunder in all traditional individual stats: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
Gilgeous-Alexander, in his All-Star and potentially first-team All-NBA season, led the Thunder with 31.4 points per game, 1.6 steals per game and one block per game.
First things first, he had an elite scoring season. He shot 51 percent from the field, 34.5 percent on 3-pointers and 90.5 percent on free throws. He did this while playing much more aggressively and taking a high degree of difficulty of shots.
On top of the elite, near the top-of-the-league scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander brought more defensive intensity to the team, and it was infectious. Leading the team in stocks, steals and blocks, per game, he set the tone for the team and was active on both ends of the floor.
Almost all of that was expected, with some exception to the defensive production, but what was unexpected was 20-year-old Josh Giddey’s production for this squad in his sophomore season.
Giddey led the squad with 7.9 rebounds per game, given they played small-ball and smaller lineups all season, and 6.2 assists per game.
For the rebounds, it’s impressive for Giddey because he’s aggressive and relentless on the boards and plays into a much needed role for the Thunder who were without Chet Holmgren and had little-to-no consistency with big men in the lineup.
The secondary guard in the backcourt was also the team's leader in assists per game at 6.2 assists per game. Giddey controlled the court in his second season, even with his added scoring ability.
Though this wasn’t a team-high on the season, Giddey was the Thunder’s second-best scorer this season at 16.6 points per game. His overall efficiency from the field jumped six percent, while also having a six percent jump on 3-point percentage.
With this, the duo was the clear driver of this Thunder team and to see them work in tandem shuts down any talk we heard in Giddey’s rookie season. The concern raised about them not being able to work alongside each other as a duo is thrown out of the window and this team is ready to add onto the already-impressive team they’ve got.
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