It took four games, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finally looked like the probable MVP winner he was in a playoff setting. He ensured the Oklahoma City Thunder flew home without a Game 5 on the docket.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit a pivotal deep mid-range jumper on Vince Williams Jr. in the final moments of the Thunder’s 117-115 Game 4 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. That was a pretty bow to tie on an efficient 38 points to lead OKC to another Round 1 sweep.
A lot was made about Gilgeous-Alexander’s first three games. After averaging 32.7 points on 51.9% shooting in the regular season, he was at 24.3 points on 35.3% shooting in the first three games of his first-round series. The dropoff was swept under the rug as Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren pushed the Thunder to a 3-0 series lead.
It didn’t matter against the Grizzlies, but the Thunder must need Gilgeous-Alexander to return to being the efficient 30-point scorer he’s shown to be over the last three seasons from here on out. Whether it’s the Denver Nuggets or the LA Clippers in Round 2, he’ll hope for better luck on his jumper.
Despite the stats falling, Holmgren preached Gilgeous-Alexander’s process over the results. The 22-year-old backed up his teammate when asked about the notion that he had an up-and-down series.
Not only did Holmgren play great defense on the court this series, but he also carried that over to the postgame podium. He shooed away any critics on Gilgeous-Alexander’s series after a loud Game 4 closer resembled what he looked like in the regular season compared to the first three playoff games.
“I don’t know where this ups-and-downs thing is coming from. I think he played a helluva series. I feel like he was out there making the right reads. Getting good looks for us. At the end of the day, you can’t judge performances based on the ball going in or not. Because whether it went in or not, we liked that shot,” Holmgren said. “It’s an imperfect game. Shai’s never going to go 25-for-25. I hope he does. But he’s probably not going to go 25-for-25 in a game. He was making the right plays all series, making the right reads, trusting people. That’s been really helpful not only for myself but for Dub, everybody down the list. I don’t see that changing. He’s going to continue to play great. And when that ball’s going in at a high clip, you guys are going to be up here asking me how special he was that night. So it’s going to be good to see when it happens.”
Holmgren provided an awesome answer. While basketball is a simple game on the surface with makes or misses, opening up the hood shows levels of nuance involved. If you’re the Thunder, you liked Gilgeous-Alexander’s process. The three-level scorer got to his spots and just didn’t see his jumper fall.
That margin for error won’t exist in the next round, though. It might be elementary, but Gilgeous-Alexander must be better if the Thunder want to make the Western Conference Finals and beyond.