BBNBA: SGA's MVP campaign builds as Thunder win 7th straight

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished as the MVP runner-up in 2023-24. He’s in position to come out on top in 2024-25, although there is still some ground to be made up. Regardless, his Oklahoma City Thunder keeps on winning. Dreams of reaching the NBA Finals are fully within reach.

Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder beat a couple of former Wildcats and the Miami Heat, 104-97, on Friday night in South Beach. SGA went for 25 points on 10-25 shooting (3-9 3PT) with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 37 minutes. It marked OKC’s seventh straight win, extending the team’s West-leading record to 22-5. (The Thunder technically lost in the NBA Cup final earlier this week, but the NBA does not consider that to be a regular-season game, so it won’t count in the record books.) Cason Wallace added two points, four assists, two rebounds, and two blocks in 23 minutes for OKC.

For the Heat, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro combined to drop 45 points in the loss. Herro was the better of the two with his 28 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and three steals on 11-24 shooting. It marked his third double-double of the season. Adebayo chipped in 17 points and 10 rebounds (with six turnovers) for his 15th double-double on the year.

Roughly a third of the way through the 2024-25 season, Gilgeous-Alexander is a clear-cut top-two MVP candidate behind only Denver’s Nikola Jokic — a three-time winner of the award. Basketball Reference’s MVP Tracker has SGA in second behind Jokic with a 24 percent chance to win MVP. Meanwhile, ESPN’s latest straw poll has the former Wildcat just ahead of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo for second place. This season’s MVP is trending towards Jokic, but there’s a lot of basketball left to be played and Gilgeous-Alexander is performing at his best.

Through 27 games this season, SGA is averaging 30.3 points, 6.2 assists, 5.5 rebounds, two steals, and one block in 34.6 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 50.8/33.5/86.8. He’s been among the NBA’s best players for three straight seasons now.

Maxey’s Sixers take down Richards’ Hornets

With Joel Embiid back on the floor, he and Tyrese Maxey led the Philadelphia 76ers past Nick Richards and the Charlotte Hornets by a final score of 108-98. Embiid dropped 34 points after sitting out the Sixers’ previous outing while Maxey went for 23 points, six assists, and four rebounds on 9-18 shooting. Paul George was also in action for Philly, just the fourth game all season that the 76ers “Big 3” has played together.

Maxey had just one steal on the night, but he’s averaging a career-high 2.0 steals per game on the season. He says defense is an area he’s beginning to take more and more pride in, even if its to spite online trolls.

Tyrese Maxey on why he’s having a career year in steals:

“I look online and watch everybody say I can’t play defense. So, I tried to play some defense.” pic.twitter.com/HBATrnEAJu

— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) December 21, 2024

For Richards, the big man posted 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one block in 29 minutes. Although he’s only appeared in 13 games this season (nine starts), it’s been a career-season thus far for Richards. He’s averaging career-highs in points (11.0), rebounds (8.8), assists (1.5), and blocks (1.5) while shooting just a hair under 60 percent from the field.

12/20/24 statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Tyler Herro (MIA)	104-97 L vs. OKC	28	11-24 (3-10)	12	5	3	0	0	-2	35
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	104-97 W @ MIA	25	10-25 (3-9)	7	4	2	0	3	14	37
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	108-98 W vs. CHA	23	9-18 (4-11)	4	6	1	1	2	16	37
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	104-97 L vs. OKC	17	7-11 (0-1)	10	1	1	1	6	5	36
Nick Richards (CHA)	108-98 L @ PHI	10	4-7	6	3	0	1	3	-14	29
Cason Wallace (OKX)	104-97 W @ MIA	2	1-2	2	4	0	2	1	-1	23

Tonight in the NBA

• 6:00 PM | Lakers (Davis, Vanderbilt: out) @ Kings (Fox, Lyles: questionable, Monk)
• 7:00 PM | Heat (Adebayo, Herro) @ Magic
• 7:30 PM | Jazz (Juzang) @ Nets
• 7:30 PM | Grizzlies @ Hawks
• 8:00 PM | Knicks (Toppin, Towns) @ Pelicans (Boston, Reeves)
• 8:00 PM | Warriors @ Timberwolves (Dillingham, Randle)
• 8:00 PM | Wizards @ Bucks
• 8:00 PM | Celtics @ Bulls
• 8:00 PM | 76ers (Maxey) @ Cavaliers
• 8:30 PM | Trail Blazers (Sharpe) @ Spurs (Johnson)
• 8:30 PM | Clippers @ Mavericks (Washington)
• 9:00 PM | Pistons @ Suns (Booker)