Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Playing? Why SGA Has 2 Points in 1st Half for Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the NBA’s most consistent scorers.

He pretty much scores at least 20 points in every game for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

His first half on Thursday night, though, was totally different.

Somehow, the Denver Nuggets held Gilgeous-Alexander to just two points for the entire first half.

He still could get hot in the second half, but for at least 24 minutes on the game clock, SGA looked like a mere mortal.

Is SGA Playing? Did Shai Get Hurt?

No, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t get hurt. He played pretty much his regular minutes allotment in the first half.

He just wasn’t putting the ball in the basket.

He finished the first half with just two points — and those came with two minutes until halftime.

For the first 22 minutes of game clock, which included 16 minutes on the floor for SGA, he didn’t score at all.

Why SGA Only Has 2 Points

A variety of factors can contribute to such a half, but the main reality is that Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t finding the success he normally does.

SGA played 17 minutes in the first half against Denver and didn’t make a shot from the floor.

He was 0-for-7 from the floor, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

Gilgeous-Alexander made both free throws he attempted, just a couple of minutes before the half.

SGA did have two rebounds and two assists and was a plus-1 in his time on the floor. OKC trailed by four at the half.

The simplest basketball analysis here is that Gilgeous-Alexander seemed to settle on the perimeter too much.

It’s rare that five of his first seven shots in a game would be from beyond the arc. He’s a good but not great perimeter shooter, so that’s not always his best approach.

And it’s also rare that SGA would attempt only two free throws in a half, both on the same trip to the line.

He just wasn’t finding a way to successfully attack Denver’s defense. He’ll likely head to the locker room and consider other options for how to approach the game in the second half.

But for at least one half, SGA was almost shut out. That’s as rare as it gets.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

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