OKC Thunder mailbag: Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tie a record held by James Harden?

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OKC Thunder mailbag: Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tie a record held by James Harden?

Joel Lorenzi, The Oklahoman · The Oklahoman

Fri, Mar 22, 2024 ·

2 min read

@KixxHai: Does Shai tie Harden's record of 30 points against every NBA team? Shai has two teams left; Raptors (24th in defense) and Bucks (18th in defense).

The short answer: Yes, I think so. Give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at least two chances, and there doesn't seem to be a team he couldn't give his 31 points to.

One by one, he's picked almost all of them off like a sniper. Different coverages, different intensity, different attention directed toward him. His playstyle and effectiveness is just hardly altered.

The only thing that's kept him from scratching off Milwaukee 's name is it's the only team Oklahoma City just hasn't seen this season.

Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) looks to pass in the third quarter during an NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

The Bucks, despite some changes under new coach Doc Rivers, have only improved so much defensively since. Since the All-Star break, they've been the league's 21st best defense. The Raptors , who've hardly been a model for defense for the bulk of this defense, are 26th in the NBA since then.

Plenty of players' nights are dictated by what a game calls for. That rarely applies to Gilgeous-Alexander. His 30-plus points feel mandatory by now, formulaic even. They typically mean a win.

When Toronto visited OKC in early February, it deployed one of the most aggressive team schemes Gilgeous-Alexander has seen this season. Doubles that turned into three and four players focused on taking away his drives.

But on that night, which saw the Thunder attempt the third-most 3s in NBA history in a double overtime game, SGA ended in a three-way tie for the second-most shots on the team ( Chet Holmgren and Aaron Wiggins also took 17 shots). He also ended up with a career-high 14 assists.

Sure, the Raptors could implement the same scheme. But it would be difficult to imagine replicating that effectiveness to the point they force OKC to shoot so many 3s, or force Gilgeous-Alexander to defer as much as he did that night.

The bottom line is that Gilgeous-Alexander's offense is inevitable. He's earned more spots on the floor, and his best are nearly impossible to keep him from regardless of bodies. Bet on him piling on against either the Raptors or Bucks — the same way he's done to every other team at least once.

To make future editions of the mailbag, email questions to jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or message him on Twitter @jxlorenzi.