Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores a career-high 45 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 134-128 victory over the Clippers.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 45 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers 134-128 on Monday night in their first game this season without Chet Holmgren. Holmgren will miss at least eight weeks with a pelvic fracture after a hard fall during Sunday's loss to Golden State.

The Oklahoma City Thunder may be shorthanded along the frontline, but they are a team with incredible depth — and they have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He went off for a career-high 45 points plus nine assists to lift the Thunder past the visiting Clippers, 134-128.

That's when Gilgeous-Alexander hit a nasty stepback 3-pointer to give the Thunder a six-point lead with less than two minutes left. The 26-year-old scored a career-high points and received loud 'MVP' chants at the free-throw line. He'll need more performances like these with Holmgren out.

After scoring a career-high 45 points against the LA Clippers, OKC Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got real about his new role with the team amid Chet Holmgren's absence. Oklahoma City Thunder player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 45 points in the 128-134 win over the LA Clippers on Monday.

Gilgeous-Alexander is willing to sacrifice some regular-season success if it means his teammates are better prepared to contribute in the playof