SGA Injury Update, Latest Status and Return Timeline for Thunder Star Amid Abdominal Strain

The Oklahoma City Thunder are getting their MVP back.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been cleared to return to the Thunder for Friday's matchup against the Denver Nuggets, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon. He had missed the past nine games with an abdominal strain.

The Thunder will welcome him back with open arms. The team has gone just 5-4 in his absence and has been surprisingly average over the past two months. Since moving to 30-5 on Jan. 2, the Thunder are 15-10.

They are winning more than they are losing, but hardly at the rate expected. Granted, Jalen Williams has been out since Feb. 11 with a hamstring issue, leaving the team without two of its best players.

Gilgeous-Alexander has remained their best player when healthy, averaging 31.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 55.4 percent from the field and 39 percent from three. The defending MVP has been excellent again this season.

The Thunder don't lack for depth behind him but it's a more balanced affair, with nobody else on the team averaging more than Williams' 17.5 points per game.

So getting SGA back in the fold is big for a Thunder team that has seen its hold on the top seed in the Western Conference standings imperiled, as the San Antonio Spurs are now just two games back. The defending MVP should help in the Thunder's efforts to maintain home-court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.