Do the Lakers and Warriors owe it to LeBron James and Stephen Curry to trade away a distant first-round pick to give them a better shot at winning a fifth championship?

In mid-December, Denver’s Nikola Jokic had a healthy lead on Gilgeous-Alexander in ESPN’s MVP straw poll, conducted several times over the course of each season by Tim Bontemps.

The Cavaliers outlasted the Thunder in their previous matchup a week prior — a matchup that turned into an instant classic. The highly promoted rematch wasn’t nearly as entertaining — unless, of course,

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-114 home win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. Neither team led by double digits until the Thunder pulled away in the last three minutes.