Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Falls Just Short of Career High, Leads OKC Thunder to Narrow Win Over Cavaliers

A brilliant performance from the Oklahoma City Thunder's superstar guard helped picked up a close win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, alongside with positive contributions from its rookies Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace.

When a team's best player shoots like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did tonight, its hard to beat that team.

The superstar gave one of his most impressive performances of his entire career, recording 43 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block on 15-of-22 shooting, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 124-117 victory.

He was borderline unstoppable for the Cavalier defense, and came just shy of his career high of 44 points.

The rookie pair of Cason Wallace and Chet Holmgren made up most of the supporting cast, showing how talented this season's rookie class is for the Thunder. 

Wallace continued his unbelievable offensive efficiency, scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He creates a deadly defensive pairing in the backcourt with Luguentz Dort, who primarily held Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell to a 8-of-23 shooting night.

It wasn't Holmgren's most dominant offensive performance, but he still finished with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. His impact was really felt on the defensive end, matching up against Evan Mobley well and recording three blocks and a steal.

It was a strong first quarter start for Oklahoma City, outscoring Cleveland 36-29. Gilgeous-Alexander had a typically great first quarter of action, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, that led into a 23-point first half on 10-of-11 shooting. 

The Thunder came into the second quarter firing away offensively, ending with a commanding 70-57 lead heading into halftime. 

All 12 of Wallace's first half points came within the second quarter, and he finished without a miss from the field. Holmgren scored nine points in the half, most notably knocking down a turnaround jumper over Jarrett Allen for two points.

It was a sloppy start to the second half for Oklahoma City, requiring Mark Daigneault to call an early timeout to clean up its play. It paid off, as the Thunder went back to scoring on the offensive end, ending with a 99-87 lead.

The fourth quarter found the Cavaliers fighting their way back into the game, taking advantage of the minutes without Gilgeous-Alexander. They opted to double the guard in many situations once he reentered the game, causing a much difficult half for him.

After an alley-oop dunk from Holmgren at the 4:57 minute mark, the momentum swung in the back favor of the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander hit a pull-up 3-pointer a minute later, extending the lead to nine points. 

It proved to be the exclamation point, fending off Cleveland to gain its fifth win of the season. 

The Thunder will get back on the road to face off against the Sacramento Kings inside an In-Season Tournament matchup on Friday at 9:00 p.m. CT.

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