Hoping to put his squad ahead with three-plus minutes to go, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander created space from Dylan Harper. He went with his patented stepback 3-pointer. No dice. On a night filled with kill-shot attempts, none could go down for the two-time MVP winner as the excruciating moments piled up.
The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t outlast the San Antonio Spurs in a stress-filled 122-115 double-overtime Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. They start these epic Western Conference Finals in a 0-1 series deficit.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 24 points on 7-of-23 shooting, 12 assists and three rebounds. He shot 2-of-7 from 3 and went 8-of-9 on free throws. He also had five steals.
I mean, you’re just not going to win many high-intense playoff games when Gilgeous-Alexander plays this poorly. It’s honestly a testament to OKC’s depth that he had a chance to escape with late-game heroics. But the 27-year-old was completely out of character in this one — and it feels like you got to credit Victor Wembanyama’s presence for that.
Absolutely zero luck on Gilgeous-Alexander’s jumper. It was a mid-range feast as he avoided the paint like most great scorers do when Wembanyama is on the floor. Without his bread-and-butter drives to the basket, he was left scrambling to figure out other dimensions in the halfcourt to get his points.
Instead, Gilgeous-Alexander had a grotesque four points in the first half. He only had 10 through three quarters. He just had no rhythm in his looks. San Antonio’s superb-athletic backcourt gave him fits. He couldn’t create the separation he usually does in his sleep. It took him until the fourth quarter to finally get going and look like the MVP that he is.
Sparking OKC’s late comeback, Gilgeous-Alexander had a dozen points in the fourth quarter. He finally had his first big moment of the series when he tied things up at the end of regulation with a baseline drive. Riding all of the momentum, the Thunder’s fate were in his hands in overtime.
Instead, Gilgeous-Alexander only had two points in the two overtimes. Maybe it was exhaustion or just not finding the right angles or crests to attack, but he couldn’t turn into the late-game hero he usually is for the Thunder. Instead, he faded into the background as all of his potential big-time shot attempts fell short.
“That’s what this time of year is about. It’s the highest level of basketball. You’re going to find out exactly which type of player you are, what type of competitor you are and exactly what you need to get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s no different this time going on.”
If you’re the Thunder, you’re hoping this is about as bad as it’ll get for Gilgeous-Alexander. It’s difficult to envision him playing any worse. I know this game had a lot to unpack in its cinematic 58-minute thriller, but you can really dumb down the final result to OKC’s top two players putting up a combined stinker.
“We’ve been in this situation before. So this feeling is not really new, but it’s also a completely different basketball team. But I think the thing that remains the same is that we have to get better with each game. We have to learn from the mistakes from the wins and the losses. Tonight, the losses. And continue to get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We did that in the previous two when we lost Game 1. We have to do it in this series if we want to have a chance.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander must be better after OKC’s Game 1 loss to Spurs
