The Golden State Warriors withstand 52 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to beat Western Conference leaders Oklahoma Thunder 116-109.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has sat at the very top of the NBA MVP rankings over the last several weeks. This battle between him, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo has been close, but now there is a wide gap between Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the field.

The Thunder handed the Cavaliers their worst loss of the season to leave the two conference leaders each with 34-6 records.

If anyone is set up to match that type of run from this generation, it’s SGA. As the Thunder blasted the Cavs on Thursday night, Gilgeous-Alexander feels like he’s finally the definitive front-runner to win MVP this season. The Thunder sure feel like the definitive favorite to win the NBA championship this year, too.

The Thunder might be tempted to add another star to their core before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, but they'd be better off building around their current Big Three.

In mid-December, Denver’s Nikola Jokic had a healthy lead on Gilgeous-Alexander in ESPN’s MVP straw poll, conducted several times over the course of each season by Tim Bontemps.

ESPN NBA expert and former OKC Thunder center has extremely high expectations and praise for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz 123-114.

Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts to being voted into being a starter in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game

For the West guards, the player who obtained the most votes and who will start in back-to-back All-Star games is none other than Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. S

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault's honest admission of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's humble approach as a leader