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Running the fastbreak, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went right at Dyson Daniels. For most NBA players, that's the wrong move. He's an All-Defense player with a reputation as one of the best one-on-one defenders who strip the ball away. But for the reigning MVP, he galloped through and created space with his elbows to go right at him for the floater.
The Oklahoma City Thunder avoided the upset in a 140-129 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The high-scoring affair added to the recent trend where the league-best defense has seen some slippage over the last handful of games.
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Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 39 points on 15-of-24 shooting, six assists and six rebounds. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 7-of-7 on free throws. He also had two steals.
When you mix the NBA's best scorer with a paper-thin defense, this is the result. Gilgeous-Alexander had no problem dissecting the Hawks. He constantly drove to the basket with several fancy finishes. The mid-range jumper was also on point. He pulled up plenty of times within the perimeter to create plenty of highlights.
A 15-point first quarter quickly got Gilgeous-Alexander into a groove. He only needed a few dribbles to get to his spot. Backing down several Atlanta defenders, he shot over their reach for easy buckets. After a much-needed halftime break, the Thunder came out with a 30-10 run to build up a double-digit lead.
The jumper fell pretty easily for Gilgeous-Alexander. A stepback 3-pointer barely grazed the net. After three quarters, he had 36 points. Just pure one-on-one scoring that would have most of the social media world shook. Nobody else in the NBA can score an efficient 30-plus points on mostly drives and jumpers. Talk about a shot-making machine.
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The Thunder needed this performance from Gilgeous-Alexander. Or else it could've been on the wrong side of an upset loss. The game didn't play out as most expected. But the reigning MVP delivered the needed win. He finished a point shy of an efficient 40 points. Atlanta was the prime opponent for him to have this type of outing.
Even though this was fun to watch, the low-leverage win was the latest reminder that the Thunder must return to their principles. It's cool that they can turn it up on offense, but defense is where they've dominated the rest of the NBA. The last few games have seen some leakage. Fighting regular-season boredom, they need to tighten the screws.
"The last couple of weeks, we've learned that we got to get back to ourselves defensively if we want to win big in this league. That's where we've hung our hat when it matters most and be able to get the job done," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We can't let that slip if we want to achieve our goals. The past couple of weeks have been pretty evident."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander believes OKC's defense must get better
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