‘This is incredible’: Giddey’s brutal act as Aussie ‘looks like an All-Star’ in career-best showing

Josh Giddey is blossoming earlier than the eyes of the NBA world.

The Aussie has led the OKC Thunder brilliantly in Monday’s highway win over the Brooklyn Nets (all occasions AEDT) with 28 factors – an equal career-high and season-high – to go together with 9 rebounds and 9 assists to narrowly fall wanting a triple-double in yet one more masterclass.

It included Giddey making two powerful drives to the ring within the third – signalling a ‘too small’ gesture to Nets huge man Nic Claxton after the primary and changing an and-one play on the second.

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It’s a daring transfer in the direction of Claxton, who ranks first within the NBA in blocks (2.6 per sport), whereas it got here after Giddey and the massive man obtained into throughout the interval and exchanged phrases in a tense conflict.

Giddey continued his scorching kind within the fourth, scoring seven-straight factors for the Thunder to open the interval to equal the scores – and convey up his season-high 26 factors.

It surged a giant Thunder run within the ultimate stanza as they pushed forward on the scoreboard, going up 99-92 after a barrage of threes from Isaiah Joe and Lu Dort.

After sitting the following a number of minutes, Giddey then tied his career-high with a floater with 1:15 left within the sport to seal the Thunder win.

“A sign of progress for a young player is consistency. Josh Giddey on the cusp of his 30th double-digit scoring night in his last 32 games,” Thunder sideline commentator Nick Gallo mentioned of Giddey within the first half.

“He’s continuing to score within the floor of how the Thunder wants to play – out in transition and with physicality on hard drives like that one when he barrels into the rim.

“This is a guy who continues to work on his game. I talked to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander about him, he said: ‘When you work hard and work on the right things, it will show. He’s really leaned into that effort on the inside in the practice facility and in the weight room.’

“That is just going to continue to progress for Josh – not even 21 years old yet and we’re continuing to see him take strides forward.”

Claxton put in his personal robust efficiency with 14 factors, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Seth Curry leads the Nets in scoring with 19 off the bench.

Giddey was set to face off with fellow Aussie Ben Simmons for the primary time ever within the contest, nevertheless again soreness compelled Simmons to be a late out for the sport in a brutal blow for a Nets crew attempting to navigate by means of a stretch with out Kevin Durant attributable to an MCL damage.

Of course, Simmons missed all of final season – Giddey’s rookie marketing campaign – throughout his commerce standoff with the Philadelphia 76ers earlier than being traded to Brooklyn. He sat out the remainder of the season attributable to again soreness that required surgical procedure.

Without Durant and now Simmons, the Nets wish to bounce again from a loss to Boston Friday, however stay second within the East at 27-14.

OKC is in the meantime on a scorching streak with 4 wins from its final 5 video games to enhance to 20-23 and soar within the West standings on the point of the play-in match.

Giddey has been on a tear over that stretch and the weeks previous to. Since December 1, he’s averaged 17.1 factors, 8.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists and shot 50 per cent from the sector, 42 per cent from downtown on 3.4 makes an attempt and 94 per cent from the road, per Thunder beat author Derek Parker.

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