Coming off a nail-biting loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday, which allowed the Rockets to pull within half a game for the top seed in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder could hardly ask for a better opponent against whom to bounce back. The Thunder will host the hapless Utah Jazz at 8 p.m. ET in the final game of Emirates NBA Cup West Group B action. With a 2-1 record but a loss to the group-leading San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City will need to win and hope that the Phoenix Suns handle business against the Spurs in order to top the group.
Months after finishing second in the MVP race, Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is hoping to finish one position higher this year. He’s off to a great start, averaging 30.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and a career-high 6.5 assists for the 15-5 Thunder.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Oklahoma City (-1050) is a massive favorite and the point total is set to 224. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bets centered around SGA.
Best Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 3+ Three-Pointers Made (+135)
Throughout his career, Gilgeous-Alexander has been a solid but unspectacular distance shooter, preferring to do most of his damage as a slasher and from the midrange. Prior to this season, he had attempted threes at a relatively modest rate. But so far this year, SGA has been letting it fly, averaging a career-high 6.1 three-point attempts per game. He’s hitting them at a 34.4% clip, roughly in line with his career average.
SGA’s newfound willingness to fire away from deep should serve him well against a Utah defense that allows opponents to hoist 39.3 shots per game from beyond the arc, the fifth-highest rate in basketball. Gilgeous-Alexander has hit at least three three-pointers in five of his last six games and has attempted at least 10 in two of his last three. Both the Jazz and the Thunder play faster than the league average, which should give Shai plenty of opportunity to shoot.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander O1.5 Steals (-110)
Gilgeous-Alexander will also have the opportunity to excel on the defensive side of the ball against a sloppy Jazz offense that turned the ball over on 18.1% of its possessions, the highest rate in the league. SGA is one of the league’s best ball hawks, tying Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox for the most total steals in the 2023-24 season, and he has recorded at least two steals in five of his last seven games. I expect that trend to continue against Utah.
In fact, the Jazz’s futility may be the only reason for pessimism about Gilgeous-Alexander’s potential for putting up massive counting stats. It’s possible that Oklahoma City could quickly amass a sizable lead, which would head coach Mark Daigneault to put his superstar on the bench for much of the fourth quarter.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
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