The NBA’s main scorer delivered Monday night time in a possible playoff preview.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 51 factors for the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder in a 137-128 win over Houston Rockets. With the win, the Thunder improved to 50-11 to cushion their stranglehold of first place within the Western Convention. The 37-24 Rockets stay in fifth place within the West as a possible second-round opponent for the Thunder within the playoffs.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s tally marked his fourth 50-plus level effort of the season, probably the most within the NBA as he additional strengthened his MVP marketing campaign. He received off to a scorching begin with 20 of Oklahoma Metropolis’s 30 first-quarter factors. He then secured his fiftieth and 51st factors on a putback of a missed Cason Wallace dunk with three minutes remaining within the sport.
The bucket elevated Oklahoma Metropolis’s result in 132-120 because the Thunder thwarted any Houston hope of a late rally.
Gilgeous-Alexander did harm outdoors of the scoring column in opposition to Houston. He completed with 51 factors, seven assists, 5 rebounds, one steal and one block. He shot 18 of 30 from the sector, together with a 5-of-9 effort from lengthy distance.
It added as much as one other stellar efficiency from the Oklahoma Metropolis All-Star who’s the betting favourite to safe his first MVP. He additionally bumped up his league-leading scoring common to a career-high 32.6 factors per sport. Giannis Antetokounmpo is second with 30.9 factors per sport.
Will SGA win MVP?
Gilgeous-Alexander has stiff competitors on the prime of the MVP race. Nikola Jokić is having a historic season that is statistically superior to Gilgeous-Alexander’s and higher than any of the Nuggets middle’s earlier three MVP campaigns. In reality, by a number of metrics, Jokić’s season is statistically the most effective in NBA historical past.
However Gilgeous-Alexander is the league’s main scorer and has led the Thunder to the most effective report within the West, 11 video games forward of Jokić’s Nuggets as of Monday night time. And that will finally be sufficient to sway an MVP voting base that is vulnerable to fatigue.
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