Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Inspires Fans with 2nd-Half Surge to Beat Pelicans

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The future is incredibly bright for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a huge reason why.

The star guard was excellent on Wednesday night, scoring 32 points to go along with five boards, three assists and three steals in a 123-118 win against the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA’s play-in tournament.

He scored 25 points in the second half alone to secure the victory.

That means New Orleans’ season is over, while the Thunder will face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN with the chance to earn the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.

Making the play-in tournament alone was promising. But actually winning a game—and watching Josh Giddey (31 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds) also thrive on such a huge stage, at just 20 years old, alongside his other young teammates—was indicative of something special brewing in Oklahoma City.

So NBA Twitter gave Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey and their young teammates their deserved flowers:

Remember, this is a Thunder team that still has Chet Holmgren to incorporate in the future. They have a mountain of future first-round picks. They just beat a Pelicans team with playoff-tested veterans like Brandon Ingram (30 points, seven assists, six boards) and C.J. McCollum (14 points, four assists).

So really, this is house money for these Thunder—added experience for a young core. Anything at this point exceeds expectations for this season.

But one thing is for certain: Gilgeous-Alexander is a superstar. The Thunder found themselves quite the gem with the young talent.