One of basketball’s young stars Josh Giddey has achieved a truly remarkable feat in the NBA. The 20-year-old registered a triple double in Oklahoma City's 145-135 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
His 24 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists were integral to his side’s win, and also marked the second time he had achieved a triple double at the iconic MSG arena. A 28-point triple-double in an overtime win over the Knicks in his rookie season with the Thunder marked the first time he achieved the feat.
Therefore, having achieved two triple doubles in his first two matches at Madison Square Garden, Giddey became just the second man after the great Wilt Chamberlain to do so. Another record of the two-time champion is being the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game, and average more than 40 and 50 points in a season.
Following his victory and his wonderful achievement, Giddey was delighted to share a statistic with a legend of the game. “Anytime you can be mentioned within the names of greats like that, it's special," he said. “But basketball is a team game, so if those things contribute to winning and helping my guys around me be better, then it makes it worth it.
"That's the best thing about our team — we've got such an unselfish and willing group that buys into what we're doing a team. No one goes off on their own ventures trying to do it themselves." Giddey’s second triple double at MSG marked the fifth of his career. But despite the victory and his individual performance, Giddey pointed to his team’s poor defensive effort despite their 10-point win.
"Obviously it starts with our defence,” he said. “We started off slow on that end. We allowed, I think, like 40 [48] in the first quarter. When we were good on that end, we got out on a run playing in transition, things opened up for everyone. It's a fine group of guys to play with, it's unselfish, so a good win today.”
Giddey played well with his backcourt teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who top scored with 37 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. “It's fun to be a part of, there's no other place to do it than the Garden,” Giddey said.
“It's great playing with him, I think our chemistry is going to continue to grow and hopefully we can be a hell of a back court for a long time.”
OKC have had an indifferent start to the season, winning just six of their 13 games so far, and sit 10th in the Western Conference. Up next they face a tough test against the high-flying Boston Celtics at the TD Garden tonight.
