Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not a bad basketball player. It seems. That night, Shaivonte Aician and his guys traveled to Georgia to meet the Hawks there, and SGA was, once again, sparkling.
The Thunder will have benefited from the absences of DeAndre Hunter and John Collins this night, yet not so badly replaced by their counterparts rookie (AJ Griffin) and sophomore (Jalen Johnson). Trae Young was back after a shoulder sore… and some friction with Nate McMillan, but do not look for the man of the match at the Falcons because the latter played in blue last night. We are not talking about Ousmane Dieng, Finally we talk about it a little anyway, but sorry Ous’ because that night, Shai GA was everywhere. We let you start the video quietly to make up your mind: lightning drives, treats distributed to friends, real presence in defense, everything was there. Results ? 35 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. And hey, this spin move + poster on Onyeka Okongwu which is well worth a second viewing:
The handle ????
The spin ????
The dunk ????SGA gets to the rim with some creativity!
???? https://t.co/l0hlhl5oOi pic.twitter.com/urdeLzuv9m— NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2022
Yet it was the Hawks who led at the start of the last quarter. And while the highlights don’t show any last-half action, don’t assume here that SGA kept their hands in their pockets watching Josh Giddey, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tre Mann put on the show. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went for his points… on the line, like a big guy, like against the Pels a few days ago. A perfect 15/15 in shots on the match, including 11 in the last quarter, the ejection of Jarett Culver as a bonus. The Hawks ended up cracking, defensively in particular (we will not name names starting with T and ending with rae Young), and ultimately cashed in a 37-24 in QT4 which gives the victory to the men of Mark Daigneault.
Shai is obviously not at his first attempt this season. If the Thunder recorded better results, the guard with an unparalleled and unparalleled flow would weigh very seriously in the three letter talk (and we’re not talking about MIP) and even more lately because SGA takes pleasure in blasting all the teams that stand in its way.
???? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s last 7 games:
35 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL
33 PTS, 6 AST, 3 STL
31 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL
32 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
30 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST,
31 PTS, 7 REB, 11 AST, 2 STL
30 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL https://t.co/NCkYxaAYAY pic.twitter.com/tBJgTReYhX— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 6, 2022
Seven consecutive games at 30 or more points, just that. The last time SGA set a mark under 30 units was in Memphis… on November 18, three weeks ago. After 22 regular games played by the combo guard, only 5 fell below this mark (so 17 games at 30+ points, for the little geniuses). With 31.3 points average, Shai is now on the league scoring podium, trailing only Luka Doncic (33.4 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (31.9 points). It remains to be seen whether the SGA friend will be able to keep up this pace for 58 more games… and from when Sam Presti will kidnap the star who ruins his tanking.