Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Winding Down Season With Case for All-NBA First Team

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a make-or-break game on the horizon. They take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday in Oklahoma City. If they win, they’re in the Play-In Tournament, where they’ll have to win two games in a row to make the playoffs. If they lose, they have to rely on a Mavericks loss to get them into the Play-In Tournament.

With a must-win game coming, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the opportunity to dominate in this game and build onto his already-impressive All-NBA case. If he can will the Thunder to a win that pushes them into the Play-In Tournament, that’s essentially the icing on the cake for him to earn himself All-NBA First Team.

Over the course of the season, though, Gilgeous-Alexander has been building an incredible case for All-NBA, and the Thunder potentially making the Play-In Tournament when they were projected to be below a 30-win team helps explain how good Gilgeous-Alexander has been this season.

Having played 68 games on the season, and his 69th game coming in the season finale, Gilgeous-Alexander has the foundation to join the All-NBA team. The NBA’s new CBA set a rule that players have to play at least 65 games to be eligible for main awards, and the 6-foot-6 All-Star would fit that mold.

In scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.4 points per game. He’s been efficient, too, shooting 51 percent from the field, the highest mark of his career. He’s shot less 3-pointers than in years’ past, but he’s shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc.

To add to his scoring resume on the season, Gilgeous-Alexander leads the entire NBA with 45 30+ point games. He has more than Luka Doncic and Joel Embiid, the NBA’s favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award.

The scoring, efficiency and over succeeding are plenty for Gilgeous-Alexander’s All-NBA First Team case. Scoring is a huge part of making the team, and he’s got that down easily. He’s also averaging 5.5 assists per game and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Oklahoma City could very well have a player join the All-NBA First Team this season.

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