The Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Denver Nuggets in a Sunday matinee between the top two MVP candidates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. It was Gilgeous-Alexander who made his loud MVP statement in a 127-103 triumph that got out of hand in the fourth quarter.
SGA poured in 40 points in the big victory, marking a third consecutive game in which the Thunder star went for at least 40 points. Ironically, the only other player to do that in Thunder franchise history was on the other side of this game: Russell Westbrook.
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OKC controlled most of this game, but Denver hung around and trailed by just one point early in the fourth quarter as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grabbed some rest. However, the Thunder extended their lead back out to 10 points by the team SGA returned to the game, and they ultimately blew the doors off the Nuggets to close things out. The MVP candidate scored nine points and had an assist during the game-deciding surge.
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It wasn't the most efficient 40-point game for Gilgeous-Alexander, as he shot 15-of-32 from the field and 2-of-11 from 3-point range, but it still got the job done. The Thunder star added eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 35 minutes to outduel Jokic, who just missed a triple-double with 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. The Nuggets star shot just 10-of-23 overall and 2-of-10 from 3-point range.
It has been quite the run for Gilgeous-Alexander as he leads a dominant Thunder group that has made a habit of blowing out opponents. OKC has now won seven games in a row to move to 53-11 on the season with a ridiculous plus-13.0 average point differential.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over his last 5 games for the Thunder:
40 PTS – 8 REBS – 3 BLKS
41 PTS – 8 ASTS – 2 STLS
51 PTS – 5 REBS – 7 ASTS
31 PTS – 8 ASTS – 2 BLKS
31 PTS – 5 ASTS – 2 STLS pic.twitter.com/oq5iPqQmVb
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 9, 2025
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While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't officially wrap up MVP with this performance, a head-to-head win like this will surely stick out in the minds of voters. Jokic is having an MVP-worthy season in his own right by averaging a triple-double, but SGA doing what he's doing on the most dominant team in the NBA will help his cause. He entered Sunday's game leading the league in scoring at almost 33 points per game.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Jason Patt is the head of the editorial team at ClutchPoints. The Illinois alumni specializes in NBA, NFL, and MLB coverage, and he has previous bylines at SB Nation, FanSided, and Forbes.