Oklahoma City has been on an absolute run to finish 2024 after that thrilling win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on New Year’s Eve, and it took another superhuman effort from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to help them pull away in that victory while also extending their winning streak to 12 games in a row – even finishing December at 12-1.

It can be remembered that SGA finished second in the MVP voting last season, losing to Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic. However, it does seem that he continues to be on a fire starter as he continues to bring the Thunder to a promising pace that wasn’t seen in the league since 2012 from the team. It cannot be denied that there are a lot of talks as to how the team would falter without Chet Holmgren – who went down with an injury since November.

So far, Gilgeous-Alexander has increased his output. He has been efficient on his field goals and has been a menace on the playmaking side, which has significantly helped OKC make a leap and keep hold of the top spot in the Western Conference while also reaching the final of the NBA Cup in Las Vegas.

On a Tear for OKC

In the last 10 games, SGA has scored at least 30 or more points in seven of those, including three 40-point outings – one to help edge the Wolves on New Year’s Eve and push a comeback victory when it mattered most. OKC ended the year with a bang and scored 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field, including a clutch three to push the lead to 109-103 with just a minute left in the game.

Since Chet Holmgren went down, SGA has averaged 33.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks on 55% shooting from the field – the hallmarks of a true MVP candidate considering how he has evolved to continue leading the Thunder to the top. Of course, he has been helped significantly by the booming impact of Isaiah Hartenstein’s presence on the paint and Jalen Williams’ continued rise to stardom.

MVP Loading for SGA

As of the time of writing, SGA has now jumped Nikola Jokic for the MVP voting odds with +110, just a notch above the Nuggets star’s odds of +120. Giannis Antetokounmpo trails behind along with Jayson Tatum and surprisingly, Victor Wembanyama. However, there are a lot of talks that this year’s MVP is for Gilgeous-Alexander to lose now more than ever.

Anthony Edwards, who lost to SGA in the New Year’s Eve clash, said that the latter was unstoppable and should have been the MVP last year.

"To me, he's unguardable," Edwards said per ESPN. "As far as any one-on-one matchup, yeah, you can go on and give it up. Just give him two points most of the time. So I think you got to trap him. Maybe that don't work, but you got to try it. For sure you got to send a second body, especially if he got a favorable matchup. Anytime he got somebody that he knows can't guard him, he's going to score every time."

At this point, it is easy to expect that Gilgeous-Alexander will continue to keep on playing at this level while OKC keeps on increasing the gap between its Western Conference rivals for the top spot of the Western Conference and ensure that they are in a good position when Holmgren returns to the lineup.