The Golden State Warriors began their 3-game road trip with a disappointing start as they suffered a 105-113 loss against the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers. Travelling to Texas, in hopes of grabbing a win against Josh Giddey and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning champ failed to do so.
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An action-packed thriller that witnessed 7 lead changes & 7 ties, ended in the Thunder’s favour. Despite Stephen Curry’s 40-point scoring outburst, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey propelled the home team to a 137-128 win.
While SGA managed to record 33 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists, the Aussie youngster stuffed the stat sheet. Playing a team-high 37:57 minutes, Giddey lodged a 17-point, 11-rebound, and 17-assist triple-double.
Josh Giddey with a career-high 17 AST in the win over the Warriors!
17 PTS | 17 AST | 11 REB pic.twitter.com/qQxKF93txi
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 8, 2023
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Josh Giddey ties Magic Johnson in incredible feat; trails Luka Doncic
Josh’s outstanding performance against the San Francisco-based franchise was his 7th career triple-double. This makes him only the third player ever, tying the great Magic Johnson, to achieve such a feat before turning 21 years of age.
Most triple-doubles before turning 21 years old:
21 — Luka Doncic
7 — Magic Johnson, Josh Giddey pic.twitter.com/HhRX304CRU— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 8, 2023
The 6-foot-8 guard also surpassed Luka Doncic to become the youngest player in history to record 15+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 15+ assists in a single game.
Surpasses Luka pic.twitter.com/UCT1elEct7
— ‘ (@_Talkin_NBA) March 8, 2023
NBA Twitter lauded the 20-year-old as soon as these feats went viral on social media.
I just landed and josh Giddey is magic Johnson?
— Eddie Gonzalez (@bansky) March 8, 2023
he’s got my mvp vote after this game
— Prez (@PresidentEmbiid) March 8, 2023
He truly is the next magic Johnson https://t.co/QiXnvAMKzb
— Maxwell (@millerm547) March 8, 2023
wizard of aus https://t.co/L7Qw1VsEDd
— I dont know anymore (@G3elol2) March 8, 2023
Magic or Luka – who’s a better comparison for Giddey?
Josh has been compared to the likes of Magic Johnson and Luka Doncic ever since he stepped foot onto the NBA hardwood.
Let’s see which one of the two comparisons is more accurate.
Giddey has played 114 games in the first two seasons of his young career. In this span, the former All-Rookie team member has averaged 14.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.
Let’s have a look at the numbers Luka and Magic put up in the first 114 games of their career.
Magic: 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds. and 7.8 assists
Luka: 24.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists
Clearly, out of the two, the former Lakers legend’s numbers are closer to the OKC youngster’s stats. However, this doesn’t prove that Earvin is Giddey’s accurate player comparison.
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