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Player grades: SGA scores career-high 42 points and hits game-winner in 121-120 win over Wizards

clemente almanza
·5 min read
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is him.

After having his previous MVP moment get stolen from the Milwaukee Bucks, Gilgeous-Alexander was able to regain it against the Washington Wizards.

In a 121-120 win over the Wizards, Gilgeous-Alexander will be the headliner for this one as he hit the game-winning stepback three with 1.9 seconds left in the game. The three-pointer tied his career-high 42 points.

The mildly quiet Wizards crowd was silenced by the shot. Even though their team lost on a heartbreaker, they couldn’t help but appreciate the greatness they witnessed with Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance as they chanted “MVP” towards him following the game.

At this point, Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the best players in the league and the more he plays, the more eyes are drawn to Oklahoma City.

The Thunder are slowly creeping back into the national conversation and Gilgeous-Alexander playing like an MVP candidate is responsible for that.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus

Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

If there was a way to give a better grade than A-plus, I would give it to Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished the night by tying his career high with 42 points on 14-of-21 shooting,  seven assists and six rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander uncharacteristically went 12-of-17 from the free-throw line — entering the night, he shot 94 percent from the charity stripe.

The moment of the game easily happened with 1.9 seconds to go. Beginning the possession in the perimeter and defended by Wizards guard Monte Morris, Gilgeous-Alexander was able to use his elbow to create space and hit the difficult stepback three for the win.

Instead of celebrating the shot with his teammates, Gilgeous-Alexander rose his index finger to indicate there was still time left in the game.

Well, 1.9 seconds and a Wizards turnover later, Gilgeous-Alexander was officially able to celebrate the biggest moment of his monster season and was bathed in cold water by his teammates.

On the season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.3 points on 54.8 percent shooting, 5.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 14 games this season.

This dude is just special.

Lu Dort: B

Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

What makes Gilgeous-Alexander’s night that much more special was that the second-leading scorer on the Thunder had 16 points in Lu Dort.

Outside of those two, nobody else on the team scored more than 11 points. 11! For comparison, the Wizards had six players score at least 11 points this game.

For Dort, he finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and went 3-of-6 from three. A decent performance in a vacuum, but with the added context that Gilgeous-Alexander essentially had to win this game by himself, other Thunder players need to step up too.

Lindy Waters III: A

(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

While he didn’t stand out, Lindy Waters III was an impressive plus-32 in 27 minutes. This was a game-high. Waters III started the second half in place of Josh Giddey and finished with nine points and shot 3-of-7 from deep.

Waters III was impressive with his activity off ball this game and did a valiant job on defense. While his box score stats don’t stand out, it was clear he made a positive impact on the floor.

Josh Giddey: C-minus

Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

This was not Josh Giddey’s best game. Giddey’s sophomore season includes lots of ups and downs and this was definitely a down.

In 20 minutes, Giddey was a negative-23. Giddey finished with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting and six rebounds. Giddey couldn’t stay out of foul trouble either as he committed four fouls in 20 minutes. This could be the reason — along with his poor play — as to why Giddey did not play the entire third quarter.

Credit to Giddey for hitting a clutch three — his only one of the game as he shot 1-of-3 from deep — in the fourth quarter to give the Thunder a 101-98 lead. After sitting on the bench for so long, Giddey deserves credit for staying ready.

HIGHLIGHTS

Story originally appeared on Thunder Wire