The Oklahoma City Thunder saw their three-game winning streak snapped after falling behind by 20 to the shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans in this one, then coming back to build a ten-point lead, before falling in Overtime 128-125. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set a career-high with 44 points in the contest.
The OKC Thunder have seen SGA play at an MVP level all season, as the 24-year-old is a lock to make his first all-star game in Salt Lake City this February, and tonight was another stamp on the resume.
The Oklahoma City Thunder saw their star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drop a career-high 44 points in Friday’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans
When the Oklahoma City Thunder got set to face off with the New Orleans Pelicans, it felt like a big game. No Zion Williamson or Brandon Ingram for the Pelicans as OKC looked to extend their winning streak to four games with tilts against the Spurs and Hornets coming up to really get them rolling, but the Pelicans remained tough.
After building a 21-point lead, this game saw three lead changes and six ties on its way to a thrilling overtime finish.
However, an unusual stat doomed OKC this time, as the Thunder shot just 72 percent from the three-point line, ten percent worse than New Orleans, after shooting better from three-point land than the Pelicans.
The story of this game, win or lose, was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who posted a career-high 44 points, on 58 percent shooting from the floor, 3-for-4 from distance, ten rebounds, and six assists.
Despite the tough defense from Herb Jones and the lengthy Pelicans, it was no match for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who drug this Thunder team all the way back to make it a three-point game, down from 18, heading into the fourth. From there, it was the Thunder lineup without Shai who built an eight-point lead for the superstar to return to.
These are the type of games you have to win, especially with Play-in aspirations, but more important than if this team is or is not a play-in team this year, it is a game you have to learn from.
Oklahoma City will do just that, but for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander it was good to get off that 42-point mark and uptick it to 44 points as his new career-high.