OKLAHOMA CITY — Down seven points with four minutes to go, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knew the gravity of the situation. He scanned his closet to find his Superman cape. If he wanted to avoid a doomsday scenario of an upset at this juncture of the year, he had to do it all by himself.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were carried to the finish line in a oneman show. They survived the short-handed Detroit Pistons in a 114-110 overtime win. Gilgeous-Alexander ensured they’d avoid disaster, considering how air-tight the standings are.

“He’s done it all year and made a habit of it. He’s done a great job of that. I’m just amazed at his ability. Like in the third quarter, the game just wasn’t easy for anybody — including him,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It was choppy. They did a great job. They were physical. They attacked the game like they always do. His ability to kinda labor in a game, and then, snap of the fingers, he’s back in rhythm. That’s what happened in the fourth. He went back in there and had a different pop.”

Considering both roster situations, felt like the Pistons were gift-wrapping the game to the Thunder. They were without Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and mostly the rest of their top pieces. They returned the favor from when OKC entered similarly down several guys in their earlier matchup this season.

Early on, it felt like the Thunder would out-talent the Pistons. They had a 31-24 lead after the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander got things going. But so did Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell. The second quarter served as a change of pace for both teams. Their offenses went back a few decades.

The Thunder only had 22 points in the second frame. They entered halftime with a 53-43 lead. Chet Holmgren had 13 points to help fellow All-Star Gilgeous-Alexander. Not the wildest advantage, but pretty good considering the Pistons showed they could punch above their weight.

With the Thunder’s offense falling apart, the Pistons slowly got back into this. They had an 11-4 start to the second half. Wallace turned it over as Kevin Huerter went backdoor for the reverse layup. Just like that, it was a 57-54 game with over nine minutes left in the third frame. Brand-new ball game.

Eventually, the Thunder discovered the right combination to put up some points. Aaron Wiggins played a role in that with a couple of outside jumpers and a steal-andscore sequence. They put up 26 points in the third quarter. A 79-74 lead at that point provided some comfort.

After the Thunder flirted with opening up a double-digit lead, the Pistons refused to lie in the graveyard. They had a game-altering 19-5 run that spanned nearly six minutes. Caris LeVert knocked down a corner 3-pointer to make it an 85-83 game with over nine minutes to go.

Eventually, Huerter made an outside jumper to put the Thunder in an 87-85 deficit. It was the first time they’ve trailed all night. Unreal. At that point, the possibility of a ginormous upset crossed everybody’s minds for the first time. Considering the San Antonio Spurs were fresh off a blowout win over the Chicago Bulls, your margin for error was paper-thin to begin with. This would make that go poof.

That thought eventually grew into a nightmare. Nobody but Gilgeous-Alexander could get anything going. Meanwhile, the Pistons dominated on the boards to compensate for their absence of NBA scorers. After grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds, Daniss Jenkins finally knocked down an outside jumper to put OKC in a 97-90 hole with four minutes left.

The Thunder called a timeout. From that point on, they needed nearly everything to go perfectly. On both sides of the floor. All Gilgeous-Alexander could do was pull a Cam Newton and nod his head while mouthing ‘Bet.’ The reigning MVP dragged them to a tied game.

First, Gilgeous-Alexander attacked the basket and drew a critical foul. He swished in both free throw attempts as part of a larger sum. He then drove to the paint before he settled for a short-range jumper. Swish. Then he bumped Javonte Green off of him for the elbow jumper.

A personal 6-0 run by Gilgeous-Alexander. Couldn’t have dreamed up a better sequence. The Thunder had it back to a 97-96 deficit with a little under three minutes left. Talk about making up ground in a hurry. Eventually, Gilgeous-Alexander trusted Jaylin Williams to make a bigtime 3-pointer to knot it up at 99 points apiece with 95 seconds left.

The Pistons suddenly realized they couldn’t get a bucket. Nobody from their side of things could produce a difficult jumper. The Thunder absolutely stumped them on that end once they went on high alert. Gilgeous-Alexander forced Jenkins to foul him.

After two made free throws, Paul Reed returned the favor. Holmgren committed his sixth foul in the final seconds of regulation. The Detroit center made both attempts. Tied at 101 points with 31 seconds left, Gilgeous-Alexander had a chance to add to his game-winning highlight video.

Hovering in the passing lane, Gilgeous-Alexander intercepted Jenkins’ pass attempt. With only 13 seconds left, he was ready to call the game. In a one-onone look with Green, he created space for the step back 3-pointer that swished in. The OKC crowd erupted. It felt like he hit the game-winner.

And then a small, irritating sound could barely be heard amid the chaos — Phenizee Ransom’s whistle. The NBA referee made the daring call of an offensive foul. Gilgeous-Alexander extended his arm out to create space against Green. A move that happens practically hundreds of times in your standard regular-season game.

The controversial call stood pat. We’ll see what the L2M Report says, but the gutsy decision snagged away another signature moment to add to Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP resume. Instead, overtime we went. The Thunder scored 22 points in the final frame to get to that point.

“They’re doing the best they can. A lot of their calls are subjective. Sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don’t. When they don’t, complaining about it or using it as an excuse is not going to help you get into the next possession,” Daigneault said. “I was really impressed with our team’s ability to get that shot, have that call not go our way, recenter in overtime and go win the five-minute overtime. I’m not sure you get anything out of it by arguing about it until you’re blue in the face and then losing those five minutes.”

Tied at 101 points, Gilgeous-Alexander completely controlled the extra five-minute session. His trust in Alex Caruso finally paid off. The 32-year-old knocked down an outside jumper. That put OKC ahead 108-104 with 79 seconds left.

Hoping to put it away, Gilgeous-Alexander baited Huerter into committing a sinful 3-point shooting foul — the absolute last thing you can afford in that situation. He knocked down all three attempts. That put the Thunder ahead 111-106 with 48 seconds left.

From that point on, it became a game within a game. The Thunder needed to hit on their intentional free throws. The Pistons needed to save every second. It became pretty mundane as Gilgeous-Alexander finished just shy of the half-century mark. He slammed the door shut of one of his best Superman acts ever. This was some prime Christopher Reeves stuff. They had 13 points in overtime.

The Thunder shot 47% from the field and went 10-of-34 (29.4%) from 3. They shot 28-of-32 on free throws. They had 17 assists on 38 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with a monstrous 47 points and five rebounds. Holmgren had 13 points and nine rebounds. Mitchell had 14 points and three assists. Wiggins scored 10 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Pistons shot 42% from the field and went 16-of-43 (37.2%) from 3. They shot 12-of-23 on free throws. They had 30 assists on 41 baskets. Six Pistons players scored double-digit points. Reed tallied a 21-point and 10-rebound double-double. Green had 19 points and five rebounds. Huerter tallied 17 points and six rebounds. Jenkins had 15 points and six assists. Marcus Sasser had 12 points and four assists. LeVert had 10 points and four rebounds.

MVP was the talk of the postgame environment. Tee’d up a chance to say they’re the case, the Thunder decided not to swing at the junk food question. That included Daigneault. The onetime Coach of the Year winner instead went on a tangent to talk about the weight of voters’ responsibility.

“The voters understand that they are documenting history and that players’ legacies. In some cases, their contracts are impacted by these decisions. I think the voters take that really seriously and look at it really hard. They watch all the players more than I do. I watch one player,” Daigneault said. “I obviously have spoken many times about how I feel about him, but it’s out of our control. He goes out there, he plays, he focuses on what he can control. He stays inside the team and then the chips fall where they met.”

It shouldn’t have to come to this point, but Gilgeous-Alexander showed he can be a oneman team when needed. Things looked dire in the final four minutes of regulation, not going to lie. It felt like the Thunder were about to drop a gimme with massive ramifications that go beyond seeding.

Instead, the reigning MVP utilized the situation to add to his case to go back-to-back for the prestigious award. Just an unreal carry job against a Pistons squad that showed why they’ve been the East’s first seed for most of the season. They put quite the scare on the Thunder, but at this point, a win is a win.

“Not every game is going to go your way all the time. The wind’s going to be in your face at different times for different reasons. You’ve got to have the mental and the team connection to just buckle down and attack the next possession,” Daigneault said. “I thought tonight we had to do that. The game forced us to do that instead. Credit to the guys, we did it. We just never let go, despite the fact that it wasn’t an easy game. Not all your wins are going to be pretty.”

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