Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leadership on display in win over Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder earned a much-needed bounce-back win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night in the Paycom Center. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed off his leadership in this 153-121 win.

The OKC Thunder suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, marking their fifth straight loss to the Rockets, dipping them below .500 against that franchise since 2020 despite the talent disparity these two rosters have shown this season. On Saturday, they got another shot at the pesky foes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder topped the Houston Rockets on Saturday in a much-needed victory where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed his leadership skills.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on fire right from the start on Saturday, dropping 20 points in the first frame, three rebounds, three steals, and a block in 12 minutes while shooting 70 percent from the floor.

That is enough for an entire night’s worth of work, but Gilgeous-Alexander did not stop there, finishing with 42 points through 30 minutes of action, four rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks while shooting 61 percent from the floor.

The entire game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had that look in his eyes, determination, in kill mode. He was slapping his leg after making shots, firing up the bench after a tough fallaway bucket hit over second overall pick in the 2021 draft Jalen Green.

Thunder sharpshooter Isaiah Joe said, “we owed them one…we came into this game with a different mentality.” Even veteran Mike Muscala discussed how Mark Daigneault treated this pregame differently, not showing the team scouting clips of Houston, just wanting to see how they would respond.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did what leaders do. He set the tone for the night and propelled the Thunder to a massive win.