OKLAHOMA CITY -- Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards, beaming with admiration of an All-NBA rival, didn't hesitate when asked about Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"The MVP of the NBA," Edwards told ESPN.

The season hasn't reached the halfway point yet, but Edwards has seen enough to declare that Gilgeous-Alexander should be en route to claiming his first MVP award after finishing as the runner-up last season.

Actually, Edwards saw way too much from Gilgeous-Alexander during the Thunder's 113-105 win over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night at the Paycom Center. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting, including 19 points during the third quarter while Oklahoma City seized control of the game.

It was the 12th consecutive win for the Thunder, a streak that doesn't include the NBA Cup finals loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, which doesn't count as a regular-season game. Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 33.4 points on 56.6% shooting from the floor during the longest winning streak since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City.

"I feel like I'm flowing, like the game's just coming," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I'm not pressing, not thinking, just out there hooping. The hard work's paying off."

Gilgeous-Alexander ranks second in the league in scoring (31.3 points per game) and second in steals (2.0) for the 27-5 Thunder, who have the Western Conference's best record and the NBA's top-ranked defense. He's shooting 52.8% from the floor while also averaging 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.

It's the ease with which Gilgeous-Alexander scores that awes Edwards.

"To me, he's unguardable," Edwards said. "As far as any one-on-one matchup, yeah, you can go on and give it up. Just give him two points most of the time. So I think you got to trap him. Maybe that don't work, but you got to try it. For sure you got to send a second body, especially if he got a favorable matchup. Anytime he got somebody that he knows can't guard him, ah, he going to score every time."

Edwards acknowledged that three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who is averaging 31.0 points, 12.9 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game for the 18-13 Denver Nuggets, is also building a quality case again. However, Edwards is adamant that Gilgeous-Alexander should be considered the MVP front-runner.

"I don't know if they could give it to [Jokic] again," said Edwards, who had 20 points in the loss. "Yeah, I would say Shai. Yeah, he's looking like the MVP, man. He was incredible once again tonight.

"He's consistent every night. His team gonna give him the ball and just let him rock out every night. It's nothing to think about. 'Hey, get Shai the ball and he going to get busy, and then we're going to figure it out after that.' I love watching that. It's incredible, man. If he is keeping him like that, I hope they give [MVP] to him this year for sure. I feel like he should have won it last year, but he's playing out his mind right now."

Gilgeous-Alexander was flattered to receive such praise from a competitor of Edwards' pedigree.

"No offense to you guys in the media, but the best satisfaction is when your peers and the guys that do the same thing for a living at a very high level that you do recognize and respect your craft and your talent," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "That's a really good feeling. Obviously the caliber player he is, the sky's the limit. Hard-fought battle tonight."