DENVER — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t sulk over his off night. He didn’t hang his head, either, after his top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the fourth-seeded Denver Nuggets for the second time in three games in a Western Conference semifinal series.
The NBA All-Star guard just smiled. And as some fans in the Ball Arena crowd taunted Gilgeous-Alexander while he left the court after the 113-104 overtime loss, his smile — like his resolve — only grew.
“It’s easy to taunt when you’re up,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who shot 7-for-22 from the floor Friday night, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range, and finished with 18 points. “I don’t ever want to show them that I’m defeated or mad or anything like that. Nothing’s written. The series is not over, and we have a lot to be optimistic about.
“I didn’t perform the way I did down the stretch, but I have an opportunity the next game and the next game after that, to make up for it. I’m optimistic about it,” added the 26-year-old from Toronto, a former prep standout at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy.
The Thunder were coming off a 43-point wipeout of Denver in Game 2 where everything seemed so easy. This game was a grind, especially in overtime where they were outscored 11-2, going 1-of-7 from the floor and turning it over twice.
It’s all part of the process for the young Thunder, who trail 2-1 in the series heading into Game 4 on Sunday at Ball Arena.
“Losses always sting, especially in the playoffs,” said coach Mark Daigneault, whose team swept the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. “But what I would say is we are in the process of becoming a great team, and we’ve checked a lot of boxes in that process. One thing that it takes to be a great team is you get taken to the limit in the playoffs, and you’ve got a rise to the challenges that you’re confronted with.”
The good in Game 3 for the Thunder included holding Nikola Jokic, the reigning NBA MVP, to 8-of-25 shooting, including 0-of-10 from 3-point range. Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams erupted for 32 points and dominated the offensive boards by an 18-5 margin. And the visitors outscored Denver 56-32 in the paint.
The not-so-good in Game 3: Shooting 25.7% from behind the 3-point line and an off night from Gilgeous-Alexander, the favorite to win the MVP over Jokic.
“It sucks to lose, but you can’t throw everything out the window when you do,” Daigneault explained. “You’ve got to learn from the good and the bad.”
The Thunder plan to review the video and learn from Game 3 — just like they did after losing the first game of the best-of-seven series.
“Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows,” Williams said. “There are going to be a lot of ups and downs to it. It’s about how you win these days in between, and I think that’s what makes a really good team.”