The New York Knicks and the Oklahoma City Thunder are two of the hottest teams in the NBA and their respective conferences. The Thunder, winners of 13 straight games and the Knicks, winners of nine straight games will put their respective winning streaks on the line this evening in what could be an NBA Finals preview.
The Thunder are benefitted from a revved up Shai Gilgeous Alexander who is averaging 31.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.5 rebounds and two steals per contest.
The leader in All-Star votes for Western conference guards, SGA has been electrifying on the court and his teammates are more than proud of his ascending profile. “I think Shai IS the MVP,” Oklahoma City Thunder big man, Jaylin Williams tells me.
“I thought it last year too. Shai comes on the court and he plays and he shows that he’s one of if not the best player in the league night in and night out and he has so much to his game. He plays on both ends of the floor and so, if I had to vote for NBA MVP, I’d vote for Shai.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was snubbed for the NBA’s MVP award last season and he’s seemingly entered this season proving why he deserved the award last season and giving voters a glimpse as to why he deserves it this season.
For those keeping score at home: Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 33.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals on 56.3/36.6/91.0 shooting splits.
Second in points per game and third in steals per game this season, SGA does it all and he’s telling us all in real time why he is the face of arguably the NBA’s best team.
Williams’ words echo what fellow Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein shared last week when discussing the potency of SGA.
Hartenstein has had the luxury of playing alongside SGA this season and bringing his A-game playing alongside Knicks point guard, Jalen Brunson. While chatting with Hartenstein he shared what the similarities and differences are in playing alongside both All-Star guards. “They have a lot of similarities and they’re both team-first guys; that’s the similarities,” Hartenstein shared with me.
“They both can get to the midrange but it’s different. I mean, with Brunson it was really more of me really trying to get him open and establishing the two man game a little bit and we’re playing off of each other I think a little bit; and then sometimes with Shai, sometimes it’s just better to just get out of his way and let him do his thing because he’s so skilled offensively. Jalen is super skilled but I think it’s different. It’s so different. They’re both great players but again, you just have to adjust to every player I feel like. It’s been going well with Shai and we have to keep doing that connection.”
As for Jaylin Williams, the big man is getting his rhythm back. In last night’s 116-98 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, Williams posted a season-high seven rebounds.
The big man has appeared in six outings since missing the early part of the season due to a right hamstring strain, during which he has averaged 4.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 13.3 minutes per contest. He insists that he’s just getting back into a groove. “Just getting my rhythm back and getting back into the swing of things,” he shared.
“Just getting my feet back under me; getting my shot back and getting my rhythm back, develop chemistry with my teammates — I haven’t played basketball with them since training camp so, just getting better at those things and being more comfortable on the court.”
