Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard and MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took matters into his own hands when he checked back into the game with 9:30 remaining and the Dallas Mavericks holding a 6 point lead in their Western Conference Semifinal series, fueling the comeback victory of OKC.
Gilgeous-Alexander called it “probably the most meaningful game I’ve played in my career” when he got back into the game and sparked a comeback to even their series 2-2, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “Be aggressive, but be smart,” Gilgeous-Alexander said he told himself.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 34 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals, scoring 10 points and clocking 4 assists during the pivotal fourth quarter in which he took over the game for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander scored on four consecutive Oklahoma City possessions in the fourth quarter.
“There’s some points in the game I’m doing the same thing you guys are doing — just kind of being a fan of what he’s doing and, when some of those shots go in, just kind of making a face like, ‘That’s crazy,'” Thunder center Chet Holmgren said. “But he’s been doing it all year. I’ve seen him do it since I got here, and that’s just who he is. Tough-shot maker, but he does a lot more out there for us than just that.”
“He was unbelievable,” Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic said of Gilgeous-Alexander . “He kept making shots, and maybe at some point we got to send double-teams. He’s just too good.”
“He obviously took that thing by the horns there late, but he had an unbelievable blend and really found his teammates on a lot of plays,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “And continued to find them. The shot Chet hit, the shot Lu hit that he sprayed to them — that’s him passing the ball in critical time. Down 2-1 in the fourth quarter, and the team is shooting 20-something percent from 3, that’s just unbelievable trust and confidence for him to rise to that in that moment. And for a young, ambitious star player, I was blown away by those plays.”
“There’s a balance that you get to find,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “When to attack, when to pass, when to make the right play, when to not make the right play and trust your skill. It’s something that I battle with a lot and try to be really good at, and a lot of great players battle with it and try to be really good at it.
“But ultimately, it just comes down to, for the most part, taking what the defense gives you and trusting your teammates. You need ’em to win at a high level. That’s clear as day, and I want to win at a high level, so I have no option.”
Now the series is tied 2-2 heading to Game 5.
