Planet Shai

The best scorer in the world asserts his dominance again.

Good morning. Let's basketball.

Unless he misses another week or two, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is probably going to win the NBA MVP over Nikola Jokic. And that will likely put him atop the Consensus Best Player Alive metric this summer. Why is Shai going to win MVP? Because he's the most valuable player in the league. It's pretty straightforward. And if there were any questions about that, Oklahoma City's stunning performance against Nikola Jokic's Nuggets with Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein all in street clothes – that should answer the question.

That was Shai's second clutch triple in the endgame. He was completely unstoppable down the stretch despite Denver throwing bodies at him.

Gilgeous-Alexander tied Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive 20-point performances with 126. One hundred and 26! More than a season and a half of consecutive games scoring 20 or more points. The last time he scored less than 20 in a regular season game was October 30, 2024. The metronomic consistency for a team that wins almost 80% of its games is unparalleled. But it's not just consistency in the Tim Duncan sense. That consistency's really important: Shai's team knows what to expect from him every night. But there's a pop to it as well. There are big scoring nights (he's going to end up with 40+ games with 30 or more points this year) and there are impossibly clutch shots. There's a growing mystique about his unique abilities that's piling on all the winning and all the 20-point games. Shai's developing an aura of inevitability, one that Jokic himself has leaned on as he's built a case as the best player alive and one of the greatest ever.

That's one of the amazing things about this game, and this budding rivalry: Jokic is absolutely bringing it, too. He had a couple of his own clutch threes that required Shai's answers.