Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Thunder shine, even against Jokić, Nuggets and NBA’s

DENVER — Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander briefly glanced to his sideline to see if his head coach Mark Daigneault wanted a timeout. He saw nothing but knew the ball and a basketball game were in his hands. He sauntered over midcourt, encountering Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson. Mindful of Watson’s length and athleticism, he accelerated hard left for two dribbles, just to create an ounce of space.

With the option of going left or right, with a sold-out crowd at Ball Arena pleading for Denver to come up with a defensive stop, Gilgeous-Alexander took two dribbles left. He was at his spot and knew it, so he spun right and lofted a jumper from the elbow over Watson’s outstretched hands.

Cash.

The Thunder escaped Ball Arena with a 118-117 win on Saturday night because Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on a basketball court that featured Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. The Thunder came up with a statement win because Gilgeous-Alexander dominated down the stretch and became unguardable on a night he started by missing nine of his first 13 shots. And OKC did more to announce itself as a team to be reckoned with because Gilgeous-Alexander’s game reached an MVP height when it mattered the most.

“It showed that we can play with anybody when we are playing well,” Thunder forward Jalen Williams said. “Obviously, we have a ton of respect for Denver. In regards to that, they did a lot to win this game as well. But we feel that we can compete with anybody, and I think this solidifies those thoughts that we have. Honestly, I don’t think that we’ve ever not thought that way. But this just gives us more and more confidence as we head into the rest of the season. We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us and a long way to go. But we know that we can play with anyone when we are on our game.”

The significance of this can’t be ignored. You don’t just come into Ball Arena and steal one from the Nuggets in the manner that OKC did on Saturday night. For context, this was Denver’s second loss at home this season. And in truth, the Nuggets dominated large chunks of Saturday night’s game, a game where the Thunder played uphill on the scoreboard for seemingly 48 minutes.

But, the league has been talking about Gilgeous-Alexander as a potential MVP candidate for a few weeks now. And moments like Saturday night, those are the moments that matter down the line when the voters make their choices. There’s no question that Gilgeous-Alexander has become one of the best players in the league. His arc against the Nuggets on Saturday night reminded us of that much. He was bottled up for much of the first half. He was largely non-impactful even through the first three quarters. But in the fourth quarter, and particularly down the stretch, Gilgeous-Alexander became impossible to guard.

He consistently touched the paint off the dribble and made plays for himself and others. He figured out how to get to the…