OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Could Benefit from Playoff Experience
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Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the leader of a tanking team the past two seasons, leaving some to discredit his impressive statistical performances. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 24.5 points, five rebounds and almost six assists in 2021-22, but was rarely mentioned as an all-star candidate outside of Oklahoma City due to the Thunder’s win percentage.
Gilgeous-Alexander, however, has proven that he can produce in big moments, as evident by his strong postseason performances. The former Kentucky guard has started 13 NBA playoff games and three NCAA March Madness games.
In college, Gilgeous-Alexander finished his career with eight consecutive games where he scored 15 points or more. Six of these games came in the SEC Conference tournament and NCAA tournament.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 29 point, seven rebound performance against the University of Tennessee in the SEC Championship game helped lead the Wildcats to the conference title, and earned SGA the tournament’s MVP award.
In the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Canadian guard scorched the University of Buffalo for 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals while only missing two shots en route to a 20 point victory that vaulted Kentucky into the Sweet 16.
A little over a year later, the 2018 lottery pick found himself in the postseason once again, this time as a member of the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers, a rag-tag team of veterans led by Tobias Harris, went toe-to-toe with the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who were once again the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
While the Clippers couldn’t upset the Warriors, who were armed with both Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, Los Angeles didn’t make it easy on the defending champs. Gilgeous-Alexander went over 20 points twice in the series and notched three blocks in addition to 18 points in game one.
That offseason, then-Thunder forward Paul George requested that OKC send him to the Clippers, where he would join current teammate Kawhi Leonard. Oklahoma City received an array of draft picks as compensation for the seven-time all-star, but after seeing the rookie’s remarkable playoff showings, General Manager Sam Presti made sure that Gilgeous-Alexander was included in Los Angeles’ package.
The Kentucky product joined Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari, Dennis Schröder and Steven Adams in The Modern Frontier, forming a surprisingly competitive team that would take James Harden and the Houston Rockets to game seven in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the team’s leading scorer in the regular season, and did not shy away in the first round series against Houston. In the second, third and fourth games, the then-second year guard took over for OKC, leading the Thunder to two wins.
Game two saw Gilgeous-Alexander explode for 31 points and six rebounds; the 6-foot-6 guard raised eyebrows again in game three with 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and a victory.
In game four, Oklahoma City evened up the series behind 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists from SGA. In game seven, Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 19 points, four assists and two steals in a valiant effort, but a strong performance from Robert Covington edged the Rockets to a slight 104-102 closeout victory.
Great regular season outputs backed by impressive postseason performances from Gilgeous-Alexander gave Presti the confidence to extend a max contract offer to the Thunder’s franchise cornerstone. When OKC is prepared to take the court in a playoff atmosphere once again, it can be confident that its leader has shown poise in similar high pressure scenarios.
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