Slithering and snaking his way past and through the defense for what seemed like the thousandth time, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got to one of his favorite spots on the floor (there are many), raised up and completed what, at this point, is simply a formality — another mid-range jumper that went straight through the bottom of the net.
“Why is he so good!” a fan exclaimed after the shot, as heard by CBS Sports NBA writer James Herbert from press row at Madison Square Garden.
The sentiment was surely shared by all New York Knicks fans in attendance, who alternated boos and sighs as they watched what was supposed to be a gripping battle between two heavyweights morph into an Apollo Creed-Ivan Drago level bloodbath. Yes, the fans had seen just about enough of Gilgeous-Alexander by the conclusion of Friday night’s 126-101 Oklahoma City Thunder victory, in which they led by as many as 30 points.
The 6-6 guard, third in the league in scoring, put on an absolute master class with 39 points in 29 minutes, making 15 of his 21 field goal attempts and going 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Perhaps most remarkably, given the modern NBA landscape, was that he scored all those points while taking — and making — just one 3-pointer.
“He can make it look easy sometimes, but it’s not easy,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander after the game. “Some of that’s his growth individually as a player, and just things slowing down for him as he gains more and more experience. He’s, you know, still at the beginning of his prime as a player.”
It must have seemed like a disturbing replay to the Knicks, as Gilgeous-Alexander had just torched them for 33 points and seven assists exactly one week prior in another, albeit much closer, OKC victory. In fact, Friday night completed a gauntlet in which the Thunder played four consecutive games against the three best teams in the Eastern Conference over the span of seven days.
Take whatever conclusion you want from the team emerging 3-1, with their only loss coming to the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, but there’s only one conclusion to make about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: He’s now the clear frontrunner for NBA MVP.
In the four games against the Celtics, Cavs and Knicks (twice), SGA averaged 34 points, six rebounds and five assists on bafflingly efficient 53/44/100 shooting splits. He also threw in two steals and 1.5 blocks per game just for fun. This was all while being hounded and bullied by some of the league’s best defenders — Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White to name a few. And when he got past them, he found rim protectors like Kristaps Porzingis, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen waiting for him.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s mid-range game is so deadly that defenses have to play up on him, but that’s when he uses his deceptive burst and length to get to the rim, where he finishes at an incredible 73% rate — on par with dunk-only centers like Rudy Gobert, Daniel Gafford and Walker Kessler.
The fact that Gilgeous-Alexander looked just as unstoppable against the NBA’s best as he does against the dregs of the league only solidified the title Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards gave SGA after being victimized in a loss to OKC: “The MVP of the NBA.”
There’s a good argument for Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic when it comes to MVP — he’s averaging the same number of points as Gilgeous-Alexander while adding 13 rebounds and 10 assists per game on a league-best 48% 3-point shooting. If you want to vote for him to win his fourth MVP award in five years, you’re certainly not in the wrong.
But Gilgeous-Alexander, thanks to his role in OKC’s 31-6 record — second only to the Cavs — has fully seized the “narrative” lead from Jokic. The Thunder are better on both ends when SGA is on the floor, as the team’s net rating improves a whopping 17 points during his minutes. Again, Jokic has the lead in that category as well at a ridiculous plus-24, but Denver’s 22-15 record has caused them to fade from the top of the NBA consciousness, with the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander readily taking their place.
“I continue to get better, and I can feel that skill-wise, but most importantly mentally — attacking the game, my approach to the game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after Friday’s win. “I continue to get better and that’s my goal, to just continue to grow as a basketball player, as a human. As long as I do so, I’ll be on the right track, the right trajectory to what I want to accomplish in this game, ultimately.”
