Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was serenaded with MVP chants as he stepped to the line.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had been spiraling without its superstar, going 1-3 over a rough four-game stretch where the offense often looked stuck. SGA alleviated any concerns OKC fans may have had Tuesday night.
Behind a dominant 40-point showing from its resident MVP candidate, OKC came back from a 20-point deficit to take down the Sacramento Kings. SGA did whatever he wanted all night, getting to the line 20 times, and hitting an impossible shot in the final minute to give OKC a three-point lead that it would never give back.
SGA reminded OKC, and NBA, fans of the explosion he plays with when he is healthy. With his quad healed, he looked like a completely different player than the one fans saw after the injury, as he was back to getting around anyone he wanted, whenever he wanted on the regular.
OKC’s skid during SGA’s absence may have cost it the one seed, but tonight showed why his health is easily the most important thing for the Thunder as it heads toward the playoffs.
On a night when De’Aaron Fox and Keon Ellis play some of their best basketball of the season, combining for 15 made threes and 59 points, it would’ve been easy for OKC to roll over and chalk it up to a ramp-up game for SGA and Jalen Williams, or three-point variance going against them. Instead, led by an adamant SGA, OKC erased a 19-point halftime lead in less than six minutes.
OKC’s win over the Kings showed that with a healthy SGA, the Thunder can hang with everyone, even a team that gets a combined 15 threes from its backcourt. It is unrealistic to expect 40 from SGA every night, but with his burst back, he will be able to get back to the free throw line at the rate he did to start the season. SGA doesn’t have to get to the line to dominate a game, but when he can draw, what are typically legitimate fouls, at a high rate, he goes from incredible, to unstoppable.
Tuesday’s game laid out the blueprint for OKC to make a deep run in the playoffs. It sounds cliche and simplistic, but when OKC is at its best, it gives SGA the ball and gets out of the way, who does his thing by getting to the rim, eventually unlocking open looks for the slew of knockdown shooters OKC possesses.
OKC fans have a reason to celebrate. Not because their favorite team beat a Kings team in a swoon, but because SGA just made it clear for everyone to see — he’s back.
