Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to put up big numbers, and he’ll take another stab at improving his MVP aspirations when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 48 points in Saturday’s 113-107 road victory over the Detroit Pistons, marking the 12th time he has tallied 40 or more this season. Four of those were outings of 50-plus points.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic are in a two-horse race in the MVP competition. Jokic, of course, has won the honor in three of the past four seasons.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the runner-up to Jokic last season. He points toward his teammates and coaches as to why things might be different this time around, especially with the Thunder (55-12) holding a 12 1/2-game lead in the Western Conference.
“If I had the exact same numbers I had and we were 10th in the West, it wouldn’t matter,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who has an NBA-leading 33.0 scoring average along with 6.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game in 65 appearances.
“The reason why I have my success is because of this team and because of this group. It’s about winning and when you win, everything else falls into line. I think that because of that mentality, we are 12 games ahead of the next team.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault downplayed Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP candidacy because that was a directive from the player himself, he said.
But he acknowledged why everyone else is discussing who should win between Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic.
“Those are two great ambassadors for the game,” Daigneault said. “Jokic is a great guy, a great team guy. Shai, I can’t say enough about as a person.
“I think it reflects well on the NBA that those are the two everyone’s talking about.”
Most observers don’t see a third entry in the competition, but Bucks coach Doc Rivers would like to differ.
Rivers took a reasoned approach while discussing the situation and made it clear Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo should be part of the conversation.
“I’m not going to campaign but he is a forgotten guy with what he’s been doing for our basketball team,” Rivers said.
Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP who won the award in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. He had 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out as the Bucks (38-28) registered a 126-119 home win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.6 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists this season in 54 games.
Antetokounmpo made 14 of 19 shots against the Pacers and all six of his free throws.
“When Giannis played aggressively as well as involving guys and rolling (to the basket), we were special,” Rivers said. “We shot 54 percent but we turned the ball over (17 miscues) too much.”
Damian Lillard made six 3-pointers and contributed 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Milwaukee won a second straight game after losing the previous three.
The Thunder have won nine of the past 10 games after beating the Boston Celtics and Pistons to start a three-game trip.
Oklahoma City defeated the Pistons without Jalen Williams (hip) and Chet Holmgren (rest) and then lost Luguentz Dort to a hip injury in the third quarter.
Holmgren is the only one of the three that can be counted on to suit up Sunday.
Cason Wallace added 20 points for the Thunder against Detroit on a night in which Gilgeous-Alexander made 17 of 26 shots.
Oklahoma City routed the visiting Bucks 125-96 on Feb. 3 in the first of the season’s two meetings. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points while Antetokounmpo (knee) and Lillard (groin) both sat out with injuries.
–Field Level Media
