Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Continues to Make History As Scorer

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With M-V-P chants as background vocals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued to shred the Phoenix Suns defense tossing in his 40th point with 4:41 to go in the third frame. Though, the contest was out of reach. The Thunder's historic defense buckled down yet again to hold its opponent to a dreadful 1-for-18 shooting in the frame.
It appeared this would be another game that the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar would be a victim of success. A score too lopsided to lob the MVP frontrunner back into the contest to chase a milestone. However, Mark Daigneault zagged when everyone else thought it would zig - what else is new?
The Thunder bench boss left Gilgeous-Alexander in the game to start the final quarter and the league's best scorer took care of the rest. In 34 minutes tonight, the Kentucky product produced 50 points, five assists, eight rebounds, two steals and a block... While shooting a jaw-dropping 62 percent from the floor, 3-for-7 from deep and 11-for-12 at the charity stripe.
Until two weeks ago, the elite scorer had never touched a 50-point game. Now, for the third Wednesday in a row, the Thundermen has rattled off three such performances.
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA with 40 points (8), Though, that wasn't all. Tonight, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the 9th player in NBA history to score 50+ points on three or more occasions during a seven-game span.
This season, the superstar is averaging a league-best 32.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks on shooting splits of 53/35/89. Tonight's lofty line will only add to a season's worth of dominance.
At every turn, the OKC Thunder scorer continues to show he is an All-Time great. There is no need to wait, no need to place caveats, that is just a fact.
This outing carried the Thunder to another blowout win, 140-109 over the Suns who are clinging to a play-in spot as the Western Conference landscape changes around them. It pushes Oklahoma City to a 40-9 mark, with a 6-game cushion on the No. 2 seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
Stiles Points
- OKC Thunder earns mark of contender with win over Suns.
- Thunder have traded for Daniel Theis, marking Sam Presti's second deadline deal to this point.
- Thunder on SI went on local radio to dish on the NBA Trade Deadline and the week ahead for Oklahoma City.
- The latest NBA Mock Draft sees OKC Thunder grab Asa Newell in the lottery.
Song of the Day: Uncle John's Band by Grateful Dead
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Rylan Stiles is a credentialed media member covering the Oklahoma City Thunder. He hosts the Locked On Thunder Podcast, and is Lead Beat Writer for Inside the Thunder. Rylan is also an award-winning play-by-play broadcaster for the Oklahoma Sports Network.
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