The Oklahoma City Thunder knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves in a defensive slugfest on Saturday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was able to power the Thunder to a victory capped off by a massive step-back triple to put the OKC Thunder up late in Minnesota.
Superstars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards spent their post-games taking light jabs at each other following this matchup. While the two potentially spark the next great NBA Rivalry, Gilgeous-Alexander was making history on the hardwood.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander notches another 30-point game on his way to etching his name among the greatest players in NBA history.
Somehow, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has spoiled those around Bricktown so much that a 30-point game with six assists, two rebounds, and two steals but just shooting 45 percent from the floor, 1-for-2 from 3, and 12-for-13 is considered to be a ho-hum game.
However, fans quickly realized that this was no standard 30-point contest. Not only did Gilgeous-Alexander power the Thunder to their second win over the top team in the West in this tries, putting Oklahoma City just a game back of the top spot in the conference, but he joined some elite company.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the 8th player in NBA history to record 30 games of 30+ points in their first 41 games of the season, joining:
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) January 21, 2024
Wilt Chamberlain (5x)
Michael Jordan (2x)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Nate Archibald
Rick Barry
Elgin Baylor
Luka Doncic pic.twitter.com/HkPpHMbE4Z
Now, 41 games into this season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has logged. 30, 30 point+ games joining a short list of NBA greats ever to do it.
Wilt Chamberlin (5), Michael Jordan (2), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, and Luka Doncic are the only other players ever to pull off this feat.
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31 points, five rebounds, six assists, and a league-high 2.2 steals per game. The OKC Thunder superstar has turned in shooting splits of 55/32/89 so far this season.
There is no doubt Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has firmly planted himself in the MVP conversation. In fact, he has an increasingly strong argument to be the leader in the clubhouse at this point in the season.
With as many games as 76ers superstar Joel Embiid has missed and possible voting fatigue working against Nikola Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander is the next in line to earn his flowers in this category.
Nonetheless, the Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Gilgeous-Alexander develop throughout his entire career, trading for him following his rookie season, and it has built to this point as an MVP leader.