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Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY – After his career-best scoring performance, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t seem to view it as anything particularly special.
In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first game since losing Chet Holmgren for at least two months due to a hip fracture, Gilgeous-Alexander poured in a career-high 45 points, along with 9 assists and 5 steals, leading his team to a 134-126 victory over the LA Clippers before 17,430 fans at Paycom Center.
“It didn’t feel special,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his 14th career 40-point game. ”Didn’t feel like I did something I’d never done before. Just felt like another basketball game. I felt like I should have had more, missed some easy shots, but [that’s] the game.”
Perhaps it’s because Gilgeous-Alexander has bigger goals in mind. He’s been focused on how to prepare his team for playoff success, even at just 26 years old.
“When we lost [to Dallas], I thought about why we lost and obviously there’s so many things you can nitpick,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I can only control what I can control, and I try to look at it from through that lens.”
While some stars might not fully grasp this concept until after several playoff runs, or even later in their careers, Gilgeous-Alexander seems determined to avoid that.
“A lot of people don’t recognize it until it’s too late,” he added. “And I don’t want it to be too late, so I tried to hit it on the head early.”
This maturity and focus are evident in his play. Clippers coach Ty Lue acknowledged Gilgeous-Alexander is already at a level reached by only a select group of all-time great superstars.
“As a younger player, you can tend to get out of control or try to get your points,” Lue said before the game. “He knows it’s going to come to him the style they play, he knows the ball’s going to come back. He allows other guys to get going, allows other guys that he’s trust with the basketball [to score early]. But he knows that at any point in time he can take over the game. He reminds you a lot of the greats like [Michael] Jordan.”
Gilgeous-Alexander became the first player in Thunder/SuperSonics franchise history to record 45 points and five steals in a game. However, these records are just footnotes for Gilgeous-Alexander, who has his sights set on something much bigger: bringing home a championship.
LA guard Norman Powell continued his strong start to the season by scoring 29 of his 31 points and making 10 of 12 shots, including 5 of 6 3-pointers, all in the second half before fouling out late. But Gilgeous-Alexander countered with 10 points in the final 5:25, including two crucial free throws with 22.7 seconds left that quelled LA’s run.
