OKC Thunder player grades – OKC enters break on a high note!
Gilgeous-Alexander leads OKC Thunder to victory:
A+. . G/F. Oklahoma City Thunder. SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER
It’s hard to find enough superlatives to adequately describe how special Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is and more importantly how quickly he is ascending.
In 30 games this year the Canadian has only failed to score more than 15 points on four occasions with half of those occurring in the two games prior to Thursday’s match versus the Spurs.
He’s the primary chalkboard material for every opponent. So, facing the ninth-ranked defense of the Spurs and Gregg Popovich figured to be a test as the coaching savant would make adjustments after last Wednesday when Shai dropped a career-best 42 points on the shorthanded Spurs.
However, Pops’ game plan didn’t phase SGA one iota. Not only was the scoring back (33 points) but so was his trademark efficiency. The cornerstone’s shooting splits were 11 of 19 from the field (57.9%), 2 of 4 from deep (50%), and 9 of 10 from the stripe (90%).
Equally impressive, was how he led the young starting group combining his efficient scoring with playmaking and timely momentum-shifting runs. The stat line tells part of the story with three rebounds, eight assists, a block, and a positive plus/minus of +17.
He re-entered the final frame with a little over seven minutes remaining and his play through to the buzzer was that of a virtuoso performer. Although he scored 13 points in the third to get the Thunder back in the match those seven minutes to close the game offered the best of SGA.
A nifty assist to Kenrich Williams for a dunk, another to Moose for a 3-pointer, a 3-pointer to break open OKC’s lead, and a key run-out on Keldon Johnson who is a player with the logo range 3-point shot.