Inside The Thunder

Film Room: Deeper Look At Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Memphis Grizzlies

The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and control a 3-0 series lead despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not having a high-scoring outing yet. Let's take a deep dive into why that is.
Rylan Stiles|
Apr 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander warms up before the start of a game against the Memphis Grizzlies in game two of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Apr 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander warms up before the start of a game against the Memphis Grizzlies in game two of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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Oklahoma City ThunderMemphis Grizzlies

It hasn't been a fabulous scoring series from superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Round 1 against Memphis. The soon-to-be League MVP ran roughshod against the rest of the NBA in the regular season en route to the league's scoring title and lifting the Thunder to 68 wins during the 2024-25 campaign.

In four regular season games against the Grizzlies, Gilgeous-Alexander turned in 36.3 points (fifth highest average against), 2.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists on 53/41/87 shooting splits. This postseason? In two games, the Thunder superstar is averaging 21 points, five assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block per game.

The lack of a gaudy number in the points column has drawn plenty of questions to the superstar. Sure, it is easy to pencil this in one of two categories: A fluke in a small sample size or the playoffs bringing scoring down.

However, in the postseason last year, Gilgeous-Alexander never labored to score, averaging 30 points, seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block last postseason on 49/43/79 shooting splits.

In Game 3, despite playing his best opening frame of the series, Gilgeous-Alexander had much of the same end result shooting 38% from the floor, 28% from the 3-point land and 9-for-9 at the charity stripe en route to 31 points. The efficiency still lagged behind while the scoring caught up.

The fluke aspect is still in play and the likely answer, but to further illustrate that, let's head to the Thunder on SI Film Room.

Film Breakdown

The Thunder's superstar started his playoffs with a familiar bucket. Gilgeous-Alexander uses a behind-the-back dribble to reject the Chet Holmgren screen and get into the mid-range, where he splits a double-team with a step-through and lofts the ball over a looming Zach Edey.

In the second clip, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander uses a wipe away screen from Isaiah Hartenstein to launch a triple. Sure, he could have attacked Zach Edey with Jaren Jackson Jr. as the low man ready to double him off which could've led to a wide-open Chet Holmgren triple, but at the end of the day, this is an open 3 from a 37% 3-point shooter. It just didn't go in.

Get used to seeing clips like this next one. Gilgeous-Alexander has made a living off of his ability to knock down rise up mid-range jumpers at the nail. Holmgren's screen throws Pippen Jr. off his track to clear up a wide-open shot in the spot the Thunder star likes to get to. The ball just didn't go in.

Again, is this an easy shot over Pippen Jr. on the baseline? No, but with the side advantage and space created, it is a good one. Is this the shot that fell at such a high clip that it won Gilgeous-Alexander the scoring title? Yes. Sometimes the rim forsakes you.

Back-to-back triples with no resistance from the defense left Gilgeous-Alexander with two empty possessions. Anytime a player misses a 3, the natural response from most is to scream at the TV, pleading with players to drive to the rim. However, when you look at how the Grizzlies are positioned on the back end defensively, it is clear that you would rather have the good look from deep.

In the next clip, Gilgeous-Alexander attacks hard on the catch to exploit a high pick up, and turns the corner to beat his man to the cup. The Superstar did toss up a floater but that's also how he scored his first points of the night and he has hit 49% of his runners this season. Again, a good look doesn't drop.

Here is the floater again later in the contest to avoid the Grizzlies rim defense that splashes home and since it went in, no one is concerned by him pulling the trigger on it. To me, these two plays illustrate perfectly how Gilgeous-Alexander had bad results, but not a bad process this series.

Gilgeous-Alexander changes gears and gets downhill hard for a rim finish to put another pumpkin in the patch and continues to look physically like his normal self. As he did the entire game, just without the results.

Let's shift to Game 3 on Thursday night

For his first bucket of the game, Gilgeous-Alexander gets a left-wing isolation and puts his back to the basket to post up a smaller defender on an island, pulls up for a mid-range jumper, splash. His bread and butter.

In the second clip from this game, Gilgeous-Alexander has his shiftiness and ability to show burst to the rim but it is just a play where you must tip your cap to Edey for erasing the shot. This goes down as a miss, which hurts his efficency in a game that you will quickly see could've been considered a normal Gilgeous-Alexander game.

The problem for the Thunder superstar is the bar he has set for himself is so high that a 31 point night on bad efficiency feels like the sky is falling. But it really isn't. The processing is there, the bounces are just not going his way.

Another bad bounce as Gilgeous-Alexander uses a DHO into a stagger screen to get to the elbow for a wide-open mid-range look that just doesn't fall. In this same game, people were quick to point to Memphis' shot variants. This is the same thing, only in the wrong direction.

Tight handles, change of pace, bucket.

Gilgeous-Alexander uses a step back to ensure help can not get to him as Edey gears up to protect the deep paint, all that is left to do is knock down a mid-range jumper over a smaller defender and he does just that.

The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar again uses his strength to create space and a wide open look for himself which looks every bit like the MVP observers have come to expect.

A wide-open triple with two seconds left on the shot clock is a miss for Gilgeous-Alexander curling off a screen. It is another great look which drops his efficiency.

Now, let's look at the other parts of his game. It is easy for a player of Gilgeous-Alexander's caliber, who is not having the series he wants, to start to press the issue. That has not happened for the Thunder superstar. It is an encouraging sign.

On this next clip, Gilgeous-Alexander waits until the last possible second, to force the defense to full commit to the best scorer on the floor, before dumping a dime to Jalen Willams for an easy finish at the rim.

Again, Gilgeous-Alexander is able to draw two in the paint and the screen from Holmgren puts three in the lane and the superstar who has improved his playmaking whips a pass to the corner for a wide-open 3.

Gilgeous-Alexander gets to his spot, the defense reacts, he jump passes a kick-out to Jalen Williams in the slot for a wide-open 3 to keep the Thunder's offense getting good looks to chip away at Memphis. Making the right decisions when the team is in a massive hole as the guy, is what leads to massive comebacks.

Gilgeous-Alexander gets to the rim and every indication is he is going to take it up, Edey plays it as such, and the Thunder superstar bails out and dumps the ball to Hartenstein for an easy floater.

Chet Holmgren willed this Thunder team back into this game with a hot second-half that featured 23 points after intermission. Gilgeous-Alexander drives toward Holmgren to get Bane to hard-gap at the elbow and he sprays the ball out to his seven-footer for a wide-open 3 to the hot hand.

It is clear to see from these clips, Gilgeous-Alexander is having a normal series with abnormal results. When you couple the wide-open shots he has missed, with a fastbreak missed dunk, it is no wonder his efficency has dipped. But that does not mean the Grizzlies have found some formula to shut him down or that there is any reason to believe this series is any more than the wrong end of shooting variants.

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Rylan Stiles
RYLAN STILES

Rylan Stiles is a credentialed media member covering the Oklahoma City Thunder. He hosts the Locked On Thunder Podcast, and is Lead Beat Writer for Inside the Thunder. Rylan is also an award-winning play-by-play broadcaster for the Oklahoma Sports Network. 

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