SGA’s clutch run

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave Oklahoma City a 2-0 series lead over Phoenix on Wednesday night, then walked off with another fresh piece of hardware from the league. (espn.com) Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and handed out nine assists in the Thunder’s 120-107 Game 2 win on April 22, 2026. He shot 13-for-25 after going 5-for-18 in Oklahoma City’s 119-84 Game 1 win on April 19. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) Before Game 2, the NBA announced Gilgeous-Alexander as the 2025-26 Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year, the award tied to the Jerry West Trophy. The league said he led the NBA with 175 clutch points and 6.5 clutch points per game. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The award covers the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points. That is the stretch the NBA uses to define “clutch,” and Gilgeous-Alexander’s regular-season numbers in those minutes put him ahead of finalists Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray. (nba.com) Oklahoma City entered the playoffs as the West’s No. 1 seed at 64-18, and the first two games against Phoenix have looked like a continuation of that regular season. The Thunder won Game 1 by 35 points and Game 2 by 13, with Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 25 in the opener and 37 in the follow-up. (nba.com) (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) That start also fits a bigger Oklahoma City pattern. NBA.com said the Thunder’s young core is now 10-0 in first-round playoff games, with those wins coming by an average of 18.9 points. (nba.com) The Suns still have scoring, even down 0-2. Dillon Brooks had 30 points in Game 2, Devin Booker added 22, and Jalen Green scored 21 before the series shifted to Phoenix for Game 3 on Saturday, April 25. (espn.com) Oklahoma City left Game 2 with one clear concern: Jalen Williams exited in the third quarter with an apparent left hamstring injury and did not return. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after the game that the team would “take a look at it over the next couple of days.” (nba.com) (espn.com) For now, the series is being framed by the same player in two different ways: the guard who closed regular-season games better than anyone, and the guard who just pushed the defending champions two wins from the second round. (nba.com) (espn.com)