The Oklahoma City Thunder, who currently hold the top spot in the NBA, received an outstanding performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s leading scorer, on Wednesday. Despite his impressive 52-point game, the Thunder fell short against a team just above .500.
The Golden State Warriors pulled off a surprising 116-109 victory over the Thunder, despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s remarkable performance. The talented player, who is being considered for the MVP title, recently achieved his first career 50-point game just a week ago and followed it up with another one only three games later.
Early in the game, all eyes were on Gilgeous-Alexander as he outscored the Warriors 21-20 in the first quarter and ended the first half with an impressive 31 points. This accomplishment made him the fourth player in Thunder history to score 30 points in the first half since play-by-play data was initially recorded.
By the end of the night, Gilgeous-Alexander had made 16 of 29 field goal attempts and 18 of 21 free throws, in addition to contributing four assists and three rebounds.
Although the Warriors trailed 34-20 after the first quarter and 58-48 at halftime, they managed to turn the game around in the third quarter with a flurry of scoring. The lead changed multiple times until midway through the fourth quarter when the Warriors established a solid lead that they maintained until the end.
It was Gary Payton II who sealed the victory for the Warriors with a standout performance.
Stephen Curry played a significant role in the Warriors’ comeback, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half. There were doubts about his participation in the game as he had sat out the previous game due to knee and thumb injuries.
Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors in scoring with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while the Warriors’ bench outperformed the Thunder’s bench by a considerable margin, outscoring them 48-21. The Thunder struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 9 of 39 from 3-point range.