Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t leaving anything up to chance in Sunday’s 103-102 Oklahoma City Thunder victory against the Los Angeles Clippers. Getting the ball with 3.3 seconds remaining in the game, Gilgeous-Alexander created space and then released a step-back three-pointer with roughly 1.6 seconds remaining. Along with the rest of the arena, he watched as it sailed through the net as time expired. With teammates immediately mobbing him, he separated himself to do a celebration dance.

“I’m excited as hell,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in a walk-off interview after the game.

‍

It was the second consecutive game where Gilgeous-Alexander had hit a shot in the final seconds of the game, but this time he’d walk away with the win. In Wednesday’s OKC’s 113-110 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Gilgeous-Alexander thought he had the game won, after drilling a three with 1.6 seconds remaining before a 60-foot heave from Pelicans guard Devonte Graham at the buzzer spoiled Gilgeous-Alexander’s fun.

On Sunday, the joy was all his.

“Most importantly, we won this one,” he said. “I said the last one was tough…We’ll ride the high for tonight, but tomorrow it’s back to work.”

Gilgeous-Alexander scored just eight points through the first three quarters against the Clippers, before pouring in 10 points in the final frame, including the game winner. In that last-second loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday, he led the way with 33 points. The 23-year-old is averaging 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game this season.

Though it was Gilgeous-Alexander who sealed the victory, Lu Dort led the Thunder throughout. Dort finished with a game-high 29 points, making 12-of-19 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 attempts from deep. The Montreal native is averaging 17.4 points per game this season.

While Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander were providing the highlights in Oklahoma City, Dillon Brooks was doing the same in Memphis as he dropped a career-high 37 points on Sunday. The Grizzlies fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 105-100, but it was still a thrilling performance by Brooks, who has stepped up in the absence of Grizzlies guard Ja Morant who has missed the last 12 games with an ankle injury as well as being in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. The Mississauga native has scored at least 22 points in his past five games and is averaging 19.7 points per game this season.

Andrew Wiggins continues to come up big for the Warriors, scoring 27 points in a 111-107 GoldenState Warriors win against the Boston Celtics on Friday. A few days earlier, in a 105-96 victory against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Wiggins scored 18 points. It wasn’t the points that he’ll remember, though. With 7:33 remaining in the first quarter, Wiggins passed the ball to Stephen Curry, assisting in the 2,974th three-pointer of Curry’s career as Curry set the record for most three-pointers in NBA history.

In Toronto, Chris Boucher matched a season-high, scoring 17 points in a 124-101 blowout victory for the Toronto Raptors against the Sacramento Kings last Monday. Boucher followed that up with a nine-point, nine-rebound, two-block performance against the Brooklyn Nets and then contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot in a 119-100 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

It has been a rollercoaster week for the NBA as a whole as the league navigates players moving in and out of health and safety protocols amid a new spike in covid cases. With a handful of games being postponed and certain teams electing to cancel practices in an effort to lessen contact between games, good health for all is the greatest holiday wish this season.

‍