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LA Clippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having a masterful March

By Garrett Chorpenning

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the LA Clippers handles the ball during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on March 12, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the LA Clippers handles the ball during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on March 12, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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LA Clippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had an impressive first year in the NBA, but he’s brought his play up a whole other level in March.

Chalk it up to March Madness if you’d like, but there’s no disguising the fact that LA Clippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been playing his best basketball in the month of March. And that isn’t to say he was playing bad basketball prior to that period — he wasn’t — but he’s been world’s better for the last three weeks, and especially since the All-Star break.

Coming into the month, the rookie guard was averaging 9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game on .459/.313/.807 shooting splits. From March 1 through 19, it’s been a completely different story.

Over the course of the last nine games, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 14.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists on .539/.667/.720 shooting splits — a vast improvement almost across the board. He even recorded his first double-double on Sunday in a win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Gilgeous-Alexander has been a confident shooter nearly all season long, but his three-point numbers have always been the one thing holding him back from becoming a real threat from range.

That is, until he got hot from deep against Sacramento on March 1, hitting all three of his attempts from deep. Or in the following game against the Knicks, when he made two of his three. And then one of two in the next game, and again in the next game.

To this point, Gilgeous-Alexander has made 14-of-21 three-pointers he’s attempted in March, or roughly 67 percent — bringing his season average from range up to 37.5 percent. That’s an impressive figure for a player who was projected to hit under 35 percent by Tankathon.

Gilgeous-Alexander has looked good doing it, too. There’s been an obvious swagger to him lately, and as he becomes a leader on this team over the next several seasons, his development as a three-point shooter is very important.

As good of a shooter as he’s been lately, that isn’t the only area of his game where he’s looked like an improved player. On defense, Gilgeous-Alexander has been locking his opponents down with his nearly seven-foot wingspan. Last Friday against Chicago, he matched his season-high in steals with three.

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The rookie still has plenty of room to improve his game, but if his performance this month is any sign of what’s to come, then fans should look forward to Gilgeous-Alexander becoming one of the league’s top point guards in the near future.

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