Shai Gilgeous-Alexander injury: Thunder star out through All-Star Game with abdominal strain

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss at least the next five games for OKC with an abdominal strain suffered in the Thunder's blowout win over the Magic on Tuesday night. 

The Thunder announced Gilgeous-Alexander will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, which means SGA will not compete for the World squad after being selected as a starter. Adam Silver will have to name a replacement player to the World team, with Rockets center Alperen Sengün and Sixers center Joel Embiid as two of the most prominent snubs from the potential World roster pool. 

Gilgeous-Alexander is the heavy favorite to win back-to-back MVP awards, and if his absence is limited to the current timetable for his re-evaluation, he shouldn't have any issues with awards eligibility. Gilgeous-Alexander has played in 49 of the Thunder's 51 games, and will only miss five games before the All-Star break provides some welcome time off to recover. 

If he were to be held out until the beginning of March as a precaution, he would still only have 12 missed games of the 17 allowed to remain eligible for MVP voting. His top competition for the award, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, has missed 16 games and cannot afford more than one more absence this season to be eligible. 

As for the Thunder, their next four games are all against West playoff teams, with the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns on the schedule before finishing with a game against the Milwaukee Bucks before the break. The Thunder are 2-0 this season without Gilgeous-Alexander, beating the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz, but this upcoming stretch will further test their depth without the services of their MVP guard.