Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a mixed day at work. His team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, lost to the Russell Westbrook-led Denver Nuggets.
Despite clocking a team-high 33 points on the tally, Shai couldn’t avoid the unfortunate. OKC lost 119-121 in the Conference Semifinals despite efforts from the whole team.
However, fans at the Paycom Center made sure to lift the mood up as they kept on shouting MVP chants for Gilgeous-Alexander.
Interestingly, just when the cameras rolled to Westbrook, the fans in the arena kept their cheers going on as they gave him a huge applause.
Paycom Center goes right from “M-V-P” chants to showing Russell Westbrook some love. pic.twitter.com/gb6MuBgdCm
— Vinny Benedetto (@VBenedetto) May 6, 2025
Though it was rare to see the Oklahoma fans and Russ go together, last night was something else.
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Russell Westbrook Made NBA History During Game 1
While the Thunder fans showered love on Russell Westbrook, he made sure to put up a phenomenal show for them.
The Nuggets overcame a 13-point deficit with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to secure a victory over OKC. The team rallied from behind, led by MVP center Nikola Jokic. He delivered an outstanding performance with 42 points, 22 rebounds, and six assists.
While Jokic was undoubtedly a star of the game, it was Aaron Gordon’s clutch three-pointer that clinched the win. However, another key player who contributed significantly was veteran point guard Westbrook.
Coming off the bench, Westbrook scored 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting and provided the game-winning assist for Gordon’s shot.
Russell Westbrook now has the 5th most playoff points by a point guard in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/JGCMC5Iszp
— Polymarket Hoops (@StatMamba) May 6, 2025
This performance allowed Westbrook to climb the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring leaderboard, surpassing both Reggie Miller and Chris Paul to rank 30th with 2,982 points.
He currently holds the fifth-most playoff points among point guards in NBA history. Despite often being overlooked in discussions of the greatest point guards, Westbrook’s achievements include being one of only seven point guards to win the NBA MVP award.