By Canadian Press

Canada’s Gilgeous-Alexander leading upstart Thunder to new level

Nov 21, 2023 | 11:25 AM

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the NBA’s hottest young team on both ends of the floor.

The 25-year-old from Hamilton has the Oklahoma City Thunder on a five-game winning streak and boasting a 10-4 record, good for third in the Western Conference behind defending champion Denver (10-4) and Minnesota (10-3).

His season-best performance of 40 points in a 130-123 overtime comeback win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday showed just a bit of everything in his game. 

Up 126-123 with 1:02 remaining in overtime, Gilgeous-Alexander blocked a three-point attempt from Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry. After teammate and fellow Canadian Lu Dort sprung Gilgeous-Alexander on the fastbreak, he made a contested layup to seal it.

“When one of your best offensive players is one of your best defensive players, it’s huge,” Thunder rookie centre Chet Holmgren said post-game Saturday. “He really ignites us on both ends with his energy, and especially in that overtime period, he had a huge stop that ended up leading to two points and really breaking the game out. 

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“It’s huge having Shai out there, doing what he’s doing, and we really feed off that.”

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points in the second half, including 10 in overtime where the Thunder outscored the Warriors 13-6. Oklahoma City had come back from down 18 points in the third quarter with a 22-6 run, paced by Gilgeous-Alexander’s 15 points in the frame.

“That’s Shai. He’s one-on-one at the top of the key, he’s really tough and they’ve got shooters everywhere,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said Saturday. “You try to throw a few different things at him but he made tough shots.”

Oklahoma City won back-to-back games over Warriors at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Thursday and Saturday and took the season series 2-1. Oklahoma City had won just one of its past 11 contests against the Warriors dating back to 2020-21 before Thursday’s win.

Gilgeous-Alexander also displayed his team-first attitude late in Saturday’s game.

He was the screener on the game-tying play in regulation that was drawn for Holmgren, who nailed a three-pointer to send it overtime. It was the type of moment that led Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault to calling Gilgeous-Alexander a “luxury.”

“Shai’s first-team all-NBA last year, he’s an all-star but he’s got the humility and the perspective to go in there and execute the play and try to get his teammate a shot and he did,” Daigneault said. 

“I can’t overstate how much of a luxury that is to have a guy that’s got the, like I said, the humility and perspective that you can draw a play for a rookie in that situation and he just goes out there and executes it.”

For Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s simply about building a winner.

“It’s how you become a winning basketball team,” he said. “I know that, all the guys on the team know that. It’s something that we focus on every day. Every day we come into film and that’s one of the boxes we try to check — did we play to our identity and within the team offensively and defensively? 

“And the days that we do so are a plus for us, the days that we don’t, we learn from them and we try to get better for the next game.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 29.6 points — good for sixth in the NBA a year after finishing fourth — 6.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game this season.

WIGGINS BREAKS THROUGH

Andrew Wiggins has had a tough start to the 2023-24 season. 

The 10-year veteran from Thornhill, Ont., has only averaged 12.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game on 42.9 per cent shooting from the field, and a career-worst 22.2 per cent from three-point range. His field goal percentage is the second worst of his career and lowest since 2018-19.

While he remains a key cog in Golden State’s rotation, providing solid defensive presence at the wing, his offensive production has matched the slump the Warriors have been on. Golden State was on a six-game losing streak before earning a 121-116 win over Houston Monday night.

However, he managed to have a season-best performance against the Thunder on Saturday, scoring 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting and going 5-of-8 from distance. 

Wiggins hit four fourth-quarter three-pointers, with the last giving the Warriors a 117-114 lead with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Wiggins had only hit five three-pointers this season before Saturday’s game.

“The ball went in the hoop,” Kerr said. “You know, he played great, he knocked down shots, but he was also really good defensively. 

“I thought Wiggs was fantastic and great to see him breakout after a slow start to the season.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press