The NBA’s leading scorer delivered Monday night in a potential playoff preview.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 51 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 137-128 win over the Houston Rockets. With the win, the Thunder improved to 50-11 to cushion their stranglehold on first place in the Western Conference. The 37-24 Rockets remain in fifth place in the West as a potential second-round opponent for the Thunder in the playoffs.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s tally marked his fourth 50-plus-point effort of the season, the most in the NBA as he further strengthened his MVP campaign. He got off to a sizzling start with 20 of Oklahoma City’s 30 first-quarter points. He then secured his 50th and 51st points on a putback of a missed Cason Wallace dunk with three minutes remaining in the game.
The bucket increased Oklahoma City’s lead to 132-120 as the Thunder thwarted any Houston hope of a late rally.
Gilgeous-Alexander did damage outside of the scoring column against Houston as well. He added seven assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block. He shot 18-of-30 from the field, including a 5-of-9 effort from long distance.
It added up to another stellar performance from the Oklahoma City All-Star who’s the betting favorite at BetMGM to secure his first MVP. He also bumped up his league-leading scoring average to a career-high 32.6 points per game. Giannis Antetokounmpo is second at 30.9 points per game.
Will SGA win MVP?
Gilgeous-Alexander has stiff competition at the top of the MVP race. Nikola Jokić is having a historic season that’s statistically superior to Gilgeous-Alexander’s and better than any of the Nuggets center’s previous three MVP campaigns. In fact, by multiple metrics, Jokić’s season is statistically the best in NBA history.
But Gilgeous-Alexander is the league’s leading scorer and has led the Thunder to the best record in the West, 11 games ahead of Jokić’s Nuggets as of Monday night. And that may ultimately be enough to sway an MVP voting base that’s prone to fatigue.
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