Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has chance to close out one of the greatest seasons in NBA history
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The Oklahoma City Thunder can win the NBA championship tonight with a victory over the Pacers in Game 6 of the Finals in Indiana.
This is likely to happen. With Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton potentially sidelined due to a calf injury, the league-best Thunder are favoured by six points, implying they have about a 2-in-3 chance of hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy tonight. If they don't, they'll get another crack in Game 7 back in Oklahoma City, where they'll be even bigger favourites.
A Thunder championship would presumably result in Canadian superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being voted the Most Valuable Player of the Finals. The current betting odds for this award suggest the regular-season MVP's chances are higher than 85 per cent, and the only other OKC player with a real shot is Jalen Williams. He scored a series-high 40 points in Game 5 but is averaging 25.8 in the Finals compared to 32.4 for Gilgeous-Alexander, who's just a shade off his league-leading 32.7 from the regular season.
This puts SGA on the verge of completing not just the best season ever by a Canadian, but one of the greatest by any player in NBA history. The 26-year-old from Hamilton, Ont., can become only the fourth man ever to lead the league in scoring, capture the regular-season MVP, win a championship ring and add the Finals MVP in the same season. You may have heard of the others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan.
WATCH | Canada's Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 2nd NBA MVP from Canada:
Hamilton's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 2nd Canadian named NBA MVP
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