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Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set a new scoring record for a Canadian player in Toronto as he put 32 points – including the game-winning basket – past the Raptors on Sunday night.
Kyle Lowry, who has made a habit of dominating the floor at Scotiabank Arena over the past decade or so, described his opponent’s performance as “unbelievable” as SGA matched his career-high points total.
And dominant performances are becoming a habit for the 21-year-old. He’s averaging over 27 points per outing over the last six games and shooting over 50 per cent from the floor, scoring efficiently and in high-volume.
But coming back to his home country seemed to spark an extra-special performance from the guard, who was selected 11th in the 2018 NBA Draft.
0:58 “He’s been excited to come back,” Chris Paul said about his third-year colleague. “Everybody here in Canada, know you all got a real one.”
“I knew I had to make a play,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The clock was going down. Chris trusted me with it but I make shots like that all the time so I just trusted my work.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s mark for most points by a Canadian in Toronto, beat Rick Fox’s previous mark set in 1998 and NBA Gametime pundit Brian Shaw has been impressed with his rise from collegiate prospect to consistent NBA scorer and floor general.
Shaw said: “I’m very impressed. I followed him, his journey when he was at the University of Kentucky, [from] a guy who wasn’t on anybody’s radar, [until] in that last season at Kentucky he got better and better and got himself into the draft.
“Now that he’s in the league, the game is slowing down for him. He’s starting to get confidence and understanding that he belongs – and not only does he belong, he can put his stamp and imprint on the game and he’s been doing that on a night-in, night-out basis.”
5:11 In his post-game interview with Gametime crew, Gilgeous-Alexander agreed that the game has slowed down a bit and says a lot of it is down to work put in the video room.
He also says the mentorship of All-Star team-mate and NBA veteran Paul has been key in his development.
“I’ve done a lot of watching of film this summer and throughout the first little bit of the season,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “Just trying to get better and pick my spots, know when to pass, know when to shoot and I think I’ve gotten a little bit better at that.
“With Chris, he’s been great on and off the floor. He’s taught me so much and like I say, not only on the floor, he’s taught me how to take care of my body better – just little things like that and I’m just blessed for the opportunity really.”
NBA legend and fellow Gametime analyst Kevin McHale reckons SGA’s size makes him very difficult to guard for smaller defenders – and thinks it gives him important versatility in terms of choosing his shots, including what proved to be the game-winner against the Raptors.
McHale said: “His length is different, the basket that he wins, he’s going left-handed – he ends up shooting a right-handed shot, one-legged, and kind of banks it in. If you’re a little fella, you’re not shooting that shot, it’s going the other way because you’ve got to be long enough to shoot that over people.
“When you’ve got length like that, it’s a big difference, so he can get in the paint – and when you’ve got length, you can get in the paint and then you can make your shot, if you’re a little fella before you get in there you’re thinking ‘what shot am I going to have to take?’ but I like his length and I like his size.”
Shaw agreed about his length, adding: “His size allows him to be able to see over the defense, he can get to that mid-range and inside and his three-point shot has [also] improved.
“From highlights and things that I’ve seen, the balls is going in for him more so his confidence is through the roof right now.”
Lowry said he was impressed with Gilgeous-Alexander, who has scored 20 or more in six straight games and reckons his confidence out on the floor is notable.
3:16 “He played like he was home tonight,” Lowry said. “Honestly, he’s been playing unbelievable. His confidence, his patience, his pace has been great.”
Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he’s seen Gilgeous-Alexander mature as an offensive threat during his recent run.
“He’s finding his areas where he can score,” Donovan said. “He’s figuring out, inside of our offense, when there’s good times to really go attack and be aggressive.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s winning basket was the sixth straight scoring play to change the lead in a tight final quarter. The lead changed 20 times in the game, including nine times in the fourth, and the teams were tied on 10 occasions.
“It feels good but all of it, honestly, wouldn’t have meant anything if we didn’t win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That was the best feeling, knowing that we came out of here with a win.”
