OKC Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Season Off to a Blistering Start
After leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the play-in last season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been even more impressive to start this season.
Gilgeous-Alexander has helped the Thunder win their first two games, both on the road. Unsurprisingly, Gilgeous-Alexander has led the Thunder in scoring in both games.
In Oklahoma City’s season opener against the Chicago Bulls, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting. He hit a couple of 3-pointers and knocked down all five of his free throws.
But he followed that performance up with another good outing in Cleveland. Against the Cavaliers, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points and shot 15-of-26 from the floor.
He put up double-doubles in both games, but not in the same fashion.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s focus against the Bulls was on playmaking. He finished with 10 assists, a mark he hit just once last season and only 10 other times in his career.
He hit the glass against the Cavaliers to finish with 11 rebounds. Back-to-back double-doubles to start the season is an impressive feat for a player who only had 22 in his career coming into the season.
In addition to his rebounding, Gilgeous-Alexander’s clutch minutes played an integral part in the Thunder’s comeback against the Cavaliers. First, he began the Thunder’s late run with a stepback three that cut the deficit to six.
After his teammates helped secure a lead, Gilgeous-Alexander put the finishing touches on the game. He made his first trip to the free-throw line with 4.6 seconds left, where he nailed both to extend Oklahoma City’s lead to three.
With no timeouts, the Cavaliers tried to get down the floor, but Gilgeous-Alexander stole the ball from Donovan Mitchell as he tried to get past midcourt to seal the win. That was one of his five steals in the game to go with a block on a Mitchell layup at the end of the third quarter.
Although it did not come down to the final seconds, Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder in position to pull away against the Bulls.
With three buckets late in the third quarter in Chicago, Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Thunder extend their lead into double-digits. That left the door open for Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace to put the game out of reach early in the final frame.
While Oklahoma City has more talent than in previous seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander’s numbers are yet to dip, and he may not have a dropoff from last season. If he can continue to score at a high clip and affect the game in other areas, he could take the Thunder high in the standings and enter the MVP conversation.
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