The Oklahoma City Thunder got their 2022-23 season underway in Minnesota on Wednesday, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned to the lineup for the first time this season after missing training camp and preseason with a grade 2 MCL sprain. Mark Daigneault rolled out a surprising starting lineup that featured the star guard with Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Kenrich Williams, and Aleksej Pokusevski to match up with the new-look Wolves led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.
Despite a 15-plus-point second-half comeback, the Thunder fell 115-108 as star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 32 points while shooting 52 percent from the floor, two blocks, three steals, five assists, and six rebounds in 36 minutes of work.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had been dealing with an MCL sprain leading up to the opener but he looked absolutely fantastic on Wednesday night. The well-rounded stat line is reminiscent of much of what we saw from the 24-year-old last year, when he emerged as a top-20 fantasy asset at times. SGA has a real chance to produce at that level again or better this season, as the true focal point of the Thunder offense.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.