Shai Gilgeous-Alexander broke Kevin Durant’s franchise record for most 30-point games in a season on Tuesday, and the way he did it was pretty cheap.
With 15 seconds left and his Oklahoma City Thunder trailing by ten points, Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard rebounded Chet Holmgren’s missed jumper. SGA immediately fouled Nembhard to send him to the foul line and go from 28 points to 30.
After Nembhard made both foul shots, Gilgeous-Alexander made an uncontested layup to cut the deficit to 121-111 and set his franchise record. But it seemed unseemly, much like when Ricky Davis was one rebound away from a triple-double, so he intentionally missed a shot on his own basket.
Last season, Giannis Antetokounmpo attempted a triple-double with his own intentional miss in the final seconds, but he at least had the decency to miss the right basket. The NBA finally adjusted the statistics and won the ill-earned triple-double.
Ultimately, “most 30-point games in a season” isn’t an important record, even if Gilgeous-Alexander was keen to get it and surpass Durant. But it’s somewhat embarrassing for an All-Star, just as it was for Davis and Antetokounmpo.
One thing to watch is whether this play hurts Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race. He’s already developed a reputation as a James Harden-style “vile dealmaker” for waiting in line so much. SGA leads the NBA in free throws for the second straight season, with 7.8 of its 31.1 points per game coming from the foul line.
Certainly, this is significantly less than last season, where he scored 9.8 points per game on free throws. He’s not much different from many NBA superstars, although some of his exaggerations can be egregious.
This is not a major blow to the integrity of the NBA regular season. But if Gilgeous-Alexander develops a reputation as a stat padder, it could do just enough damage to deny SGA the MVP award – which was another milestone first achieved by Kevin Durant.
