Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the OKC Thunder to a 119-98 win on Tuesday against Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs. The victory was the first in four tries by the defending champs this season against the Spurs.
During a postgame courtside interview, the reigning MVP said that the showdown against the Spurs wasn’t their “Super Bowl.” He added that the game was just one of 82 regular-season games.
Fans reacted to SGA’s comment:
“1-3 Champions. Hang another banner, OKC.”
One fan said:
“The crowd was most definitely acting like it was their Super Bowl.”
Another fan added:
“Free throw merchant gold after going 1-3.”
One more fan continued:
“Their crowd was standing all 4th like it was LMFAO.”
Another fan wrote:
“1-3 this season against Spurs! Not too bad!”
When Victor Wembanyama and Co. fended off the Thunder in the semis of the NBA Cup, they celebrated like they won the tournament. Another win against OKC, 10 days later, resulted in Wembanyana introducing a new postgame celebration to San Antonio fans.
When the Spurs won again on Christmas Day, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters that their opponents had been “much better.” SGA added that the Thunder must “look in the mirror” to improve and “reach our ultimate goal.”
In that loss to the Spurs on Dec. 25, the superstar point guard finished with 22 points on 7-for-19 shooting. It was his least productive and efficient outing this season.
Tuesday was just another regular-season game, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed more fire. He received a technical foul in the first half for a shoving match with Spurs guard Stephon Castle.
The ultimate goal for the Thunder is to defend their title. Still, SGA admitted that his team played with more focus, particularly on defense, to end San Antonio’s dominance over them.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shares “key” to beating Victor Wembanyama’s team
Oklahoma City has the best defense in the NBA this season, but the Spurs dominated them last month. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder knew that they would have to pick themselves up on that end to finally beat Victor Wembanyama’s team.
SGA shared in the postgame interview the key strategy that pushed them to the win:
“We were able to get stops. It felt like since the first time in Vegas, since the first half of that game, we weren’t able to get stops. Keep them in front of us, keep them out of transition. Tonight, we did that, and that’s the key.”
OKC limited San Antonio to seven fastbreak points, the Spurs’ least this season. The Thunder also beat the Spurs in the interior, an area Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio’s speedy guards have dominated. Oklahoma outscored its opponent 56-40 in the restricted area.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will find out if this strategy will work again in early February for the final Thunder-Spurs regular season game.
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