Fortunately Luka Doncic released the big game and that the Dinwiddie-Hardaway tandem was there to accompany him and allow Dallas to overcome Oklahoma City (121-114). Until the end, despite a one-sided second quarter in their favor, the Texans had a terrible time getting rid of the Thunder and their main threat in particular, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Like a Ja Morant, SGA impressed again with his ability to finish in the paint, and like his Grizzlies sidekick, he does so with a good mastery of support and an equally complete offensive palette. Last night, of his 14 baskets scored, only two were off the racket, on a 3-point shot and another from mid-range.
“He’s a complete player. He’s amazing at causing fouls, and he just plays at his own pace. He is truly exceptional to watch. He’s been like that since the start of the season, and even before. He’s really beautiful to watch.”, thus released Luka Doncic after the game.
The attacker, in the first sense of the term
The basketball IQ and altruism of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander force the opponent to also worry about other threats from the Thunder capable of coming to lend a hand in scoring at any time. It could be Aleksander Pokusevski, or even an Isaiah Joe as has been the case for two games, not to mention Josh Giddey, whom Jason Kidd was also wary of.
“They can both score at the same time. Shai was hot, we tried to slow him down a bit, but he’s playing at an MVP level right now. I don’t know if it’s really in relation to what we were doing, but Shai had the ball a lot.”coach Kidd said after the match.
Although he lost only two balls, SGA could not be satisfied after the match as his team lost. The hero of the evening was called Luka Doncic, while the Thunder scorer was already reviewing his copy…
“There were a few possessions where I made the wrong decision, between the shot and the pass”, he slipped, like a good perfectionist.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seems in any case to enjoy playing against Dallas since he had already planted 38 points during the first confrontation between the two teams, won 117-111 by OKC. It’s already his twelfth game of the season with 33 points or more! It deserved a tribute from the Mavericks.
“Shai has incredible talent”in turn acknowledged Tim Hardaway Jr. “He does an amazing job of getting into the paint, using his downforce to attract fouls and putting his shots behind. He is simply good at reading the game for his age and his ability to put in place actions where he manages to showcase himself but also his teammates. He’s on an all-star caliber season.”
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | LAKE | 82 | 27 | 47.6 | 36.7 | 80.0 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 10.8 |
| 2019-20 | OKAY | 70 | 35 | 47.1 | 34.7 | 80.7 | 0.7 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 19.0 |
| 2020-21 | OKAY | 35 | 34 | 50.8 | 41.8 | 80.8 | 0.5 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 23.7 |
| 2021-22 | OKAY | 56 | 35 | 45.3 | 30.0 | 81.0 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 24.5 |
| 2022-23 | OKAY | 24 | 36 | 50.1 | 31.5 | 92.9 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 30.8 |
| Total | 267 | 32 | 47.6 | 34.5 | 82.7 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 19.3 | |
