Shai Gilgeous-Alexander confirms playing hurt to help OKC Thunder finish 1st in West

NBA
Thursday, 28 March 2024 at 21:00
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Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous Alexander recently confirmed that he is playing with the OKC franchise despite having some discomfort in his quadriceps, all for the greater goal of finishing 1st in the Western Conference in the current 2023/24 NBA regular season heading into the playoffs.
At the moment, OKC Thunder is 3rd in the West with a 50-22 record after losing its last game (against Houston Rockets in overtime), however, the team led by Mark Daigneault is tied with Minnesota Timberwolves, which occupies the 2nd place. Denver Nuggets reigns supreme in the Conference with a 51-22 record. The three teams are almost evenly matched, and the fight in this final stretch of the Regular Season has been very exciting.
That's why Gilgeous-Alexander has decided to keep playing despite his sore quadriceps. "Yeah, I have a little tweak in my quadriceps. It happened in the Utah game," the OKC star noted. "It's tweaked, for sure. He's not 100 percent. We're monitoring it, but he's certainly not 100 percent. I'll let him talk about it," added coach Daigneault, assuring that the franchise's medical staff is doing a very specific follow-up on his player.
In addition to fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference this NBA season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 2nd in the race for MVP of the Season behind Nikola Jokic.
No wonder. The Thunder's star point guard is averaging 30.4 points (third best in the NBA), 5.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, having played a total of 70 games so far, making him eligible under the league's new rules to compete for end-of-season awards.