By all accounts, the Oklahoma City Thunder's matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Friday was a must-win game.
With the San Antonio Spurs now having won 10 in a row, they're slowly closing in one the Thunder for the one-seed in the West. A statement win against one of the best teams in their conference couldn't have come at a better time. Thankfully, Oklahoma City had their star back in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
After missing a large swathe of games with an oblique strain, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered an excellent performance in his return, posting 36 points, three rebounds, and nine assists while shooting 41.4% from the field.
He was undoubtedly a major part of the team's victory. And in comparison to a subpar scoring performance from Nikola Jokic, perhaps this game would have been enough to close off the MVP race in any other context.
But the Thunder must play the Nuggets two more times before the end of the season, and Gilgeous-Alexander left room for Jokic to close the gap in that time.
The MVP race is still far from finished
If the season were to end today, Gilgeous-Alexander would almost certainly be the MVP. Through 50 games this season, he's averaging 31.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while shooting 38.5% from 3-point range.
Although he missed nine games rehabbing his injury, he still has significant wiggle room to hit the 65-game threshold. Jokic, meanwhile, does not.
But Jokic's averages this season are arguably more impressive from an overall standpoint. Through 44 games, he's averaging 28.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 10.5 assists while knocking down 40.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
At the end of the day, Gilgeous-Alexander has the team success and the production to back up his case. In their matchup on Friday, this played out almost to a tee. The Thunder won, largely buoyed by Gilgeous-Alexander's performance. Jokic posted just 23 points on the night on 36% shooting, but he also amassed 17 rebounds and 14 assists in addition to his facilitation of the offense.
Where there's room for doubt is in Gilgeous-Alexander's performance in the game's clutch moments. He scored just four points in the fourth before being sidelined for the entirety of overtime. Although his benching in overtime is understandable, given how long he was sidelined due to injury, he cannot be outright credited with taking the Thunder over the finish line.
If he had been able to take over the game, putting the Nuggets to bed in the final minutes, perhaps he could have closed the debate then and there.
But as it stands, Jokic can still meet the 65-game threshold if he misses no more than one matchup from here on out. If he goes on a scoring spree and is able to close the gap between them, last night's face-off will certainly be seen as an inflection point.
The reality, for now, is that there's still room for Jokic to pull it off.