Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is putting up Most Valuable Player numbers and posting historic ones.
The Canadian guard on Wednesday scored 50 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 140-109.
Gilgeous-Alexander became the ninth player in NBA history to score at least 50 points on three or more occasions in a seven-game span, the Thunder said.
Photo: AFP
The list includes Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor, but Gilgeous-Alexander brushed it off when asked about joining those players.
“Those guys have done so many great things with the game,” he said. “I’m so far off of that. Like, it’s cool, but I don’t think too much of it. The most important thing is to know I’m getting better through this process.”
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points in a win over the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22 and 52 three games later in a loss against the Golden State Warriors.
He called his success the byproduct of a bigger goal. The Thunder have the league’s best record at 40-9 and they want to win an NBA title after reaching the Western Conference semi-finals last season.
“Some nights it’s going to look like this, some nights, it’s going to look like missed shots,” he said. “Still playing through those [off shooting nights] and finding a way to win through those — that’s what I’m after.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, it was:
‧ 76ers 101, Heat 108
‧ Hawks 125, Spurs 126
‧ Hornets 102, Bucks 112
‧ Jazz 131, Warriors 128
‧ Kings 111, Magic 130
‧ Nets 102, Wizards 119
‧ Nuggets 144, Pelicans 119
‧ Pistons 115, Cavaliers 118
‧ Raptors 107, Grizzlies 138
‧ Timberwolves 127, Bulls 108
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
RSS