Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his second 50-point outing in only four games in a rare 116-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
The only two such showings of the 26-year-old guard’s career came within a week of each other. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points three games ago against the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22.
At Chase Center on Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points at halftime and finished with 52 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Tough take, tough finish 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/n0tR09rpow
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 30, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA in scoring. Giannis Antetokounmpo trails with 31.7 points per game and Nikola Jokić ranks third with 29.7.
What does this mean for Gilgeous-Alexander?
It quiets a talking point that appeared to bother him and some around the team a bit. A few weeks back, after another steady 27-point performance in an easy win over the Washington Wizards, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about both his consistency and his inability to have those detonation nights that define many of history’s great scorers. He bristled at the question and Jalen Williams, sitting next to him at the news conference, noted that he often reaches near-40 in blowout wins before sitting the fourth quarter.
“Watch the games,” Williams said.
There’s no longer that 50-point void on the scoring catalog. Gilgeous-Alexander has done it twice in a week in what has been the best scoring month of his greatest scoring season. He is averaging 35.6 points in 13 January games and is up to 32.5 points per game on the season, en route to what could be his first career scoring title and MVP. He’s currently the odds-on favorite for both. — Anthony Slater, NBA writer
Required reading
(Photo: Jed Jacobsohn / NBAE via Getty Images)
