Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing tonight? Latest injury update for Thunder vs. Rockets
By Lior Lampert
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been one of the best stories of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Several things have fallen into place for the Thunder that have enabled the franchise to accelerate its timeline, primarily point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is playing at an MVP level this year.
Gilgeous-Alexander has established himself as one of the premiere players in the league, taking Oklahoma City to heights they haven’t experienced in nearly a decade, reaching the 50-win threshold for the first time since 2015-16 and jostling for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
SGA has been incredibly dependable and consistent this season, appearing in all but one game for the Thunder this season and scoring fewer than 18 points on only three occasions. However, his status is in question ahead of their Wednesday night meeting versus the red-hot Houston Rockets.
Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing tonight? Latest injury update
Gilgeous-Alexander has been ruled out against the Rockets on Wednesday due to a right quad contusion, per the NBA’s official injury report.
Oklahoma City is taking a cautious approach with their superstar floor general on the second night of a back-to-back set, especially after he told reporters about the quad issue that has plagued him since their Mar. 20 victory versus the Utah Jazz following their win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
Rookie guard Cason Wallace started in place of Gilgeous-Alexander on Nov. 3, the latter’s lone absence, scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting with two rebounds and an assist. He also slotted into the place of Luguentz Dort in the lineup to start the second half of OKC’s meeting against the Jazz, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get the nod on Wednesday.
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.4 points, 6.3 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game with .540/.367/.871 shooting splits, so Wallace and the rest of the Thunder team will have big shoes to fill versus a Rockets team that has won nine straight games.
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