Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays just six first half minutes, thrives at ASG

The Oklahoma City Thunder sent their max contract point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to his first-ever NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Kentucky product and Canada native has seen a ton of growth on and off the floor this season, becoming a 30-point-per-game scorer on his way to this All-Star bid.

On Sunday, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finally got the chance to participate in an NBA All-Star game after being a borderline candidate for the last two seasons but coming up short due to team record. For the first time, the NBA held a live draft before the game, where SGA was selected fifth overall by Team Giannis, coached by Boston Celtics bench boss Joe Mazzuila.

In the first half, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was only given six minutes of action as Team Giannis currently holds a 99-92 lead at the break. However, in those six minutes, SGA was impactful, after not playing at all in the first frame.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was only given six minutes of work in the first half, as Team Giannis leads.

The Oklahoma City Thunder star guard was almost too unselfish in the six minutes of work he was given. It was as if he was hunting for the All-Star assist record with the way he was setting up his teammates, logging five assists in six minutes.

Gilgeous-Alexander was mostly feeding Toronto Raptors big man Pascal Siakam which sent fanbases north and south of the border into a frenzy on Twitter, with the Thunder fans and Raptor fans envisioning this duo in their respective uniforms.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also found former Thunder big man Domantas Sabonis for a dime and turned in five points to go along with those assists. A dunk, and a side-step triple where all that SGa registered on the scoreboard.

On top of only getting six minutes in the first-half. LeBron James decided to play the first shred of defense of the entire game on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s first dunk attempt and earned an unexpected block.

We will see if things turn around for the Oklahoma City Thunder star in the second-half, but as outrageous as an All-Star game can be, this is an aggregous oversight. The 24 year old deserves more playing time.