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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will play against the Dallas Mavericks in Saturday's Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs Western Conference semis. Gilgeous-Alexander is not on the OKC Thunder's injury report and has enjoyed a healthy playoff run after dealing with an injury leading up to the postseason.
The MVP runner-up averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists in the regular season, and his form has carried over into the playoffs. The Thunder will hope that he's at his best in Game 3 as they look to restore homecourt advantage following Thursday's Game 2 loss at home.
What happened to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
Gilgeous-Alexander dealt with a quad issue in the final few weeks of the regular season, missing six games because of it. However, Gilgeous-Alexander returned for the last four games and has looked in good condition.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stats vs. Dallas Mavericks
Shai Gilegeous-Alexander has been at his best against the Dallas Mavericks this season. After putting up 22.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 6.3 apg in 30.3 minutes a game across four outings in the regular season vs. Dallas, SGA has produced 31.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 8.5 apg and 2.0 bpg in the first two games of the conference semis.
He has been uber-efficient, knocking down 48.8% of his field goals, including 42.9% shots from 3 and 89.5% of his free throw attempts. He has been the best player in this series over Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving across the opening two games.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 2024 NBA Playoffs stats
Gilgeous-Alexander's production in the NBA playoffs hasn't deteriorated by much compared to the regular season. He has put up 28.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.2 bpg and 1.3 spg in six games, playing 38.3 minutes on average. He's shooting on 48/33/79 splits. He has scored at least 24 in every game, producing two 30-point outings, including Game 2's 33-point effort.
SGA confident in OKC's ability to bounce back from first loss in 2024 playoffs
The OKC Thunder have a task to restore homecourt advantage after losing Game 2. It's tricky to go into road games with the series tied 1-1. The series' momentum could shift easily if the home team in Games 3 and 4 defend their homecourt in both matchups.
However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seems unfazed by that challenge. After the Game 2 loss, he vowed to compete and do it together with his teammates. It's the first time the young Thunder team faces a task of this sort, as it was unbeaten before.
