OKC Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seizes clutch time crown from mentor Chris Paul

Prior to the start of last season analysts uniformly predicted the OKC Thunder were headed for the lottery and would hit the trade deadline hosting sweepstakes for Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari, Steven Adams, and Dennis Schroder.

Everyone that is except the players who quickly recognized they possessed the perfect balance of youth and vets to make the Thunder relevant. This seeming symbiotic chemistry developed quickly as the squad used the initial 15 games (5-10) to work out the kinks, integrate the new players and master their systems.

From that point forward the Thunder accumulated a 39-18 record and but for the Rockets winning the Southwest Division would’ve been a home court seed (although all teams played in the bubble).

In retrospect, most of the credit was lauded on head coach Billy Donovan and captain Chris Paul. Billy D used his trio of point guard lineup to great success and was recognized by his peers who (tied with Mike Budenholzer) awarded him Coach of the Year honors. The Point God was cited as the main reason for the team’s success given his leadership prowess.

Although Donovan and CP3 were definitely keys there were other factors intrinsically linked to the team’s success. Most obvious was the efforts of the Clutch Time Killer lineup. Yet, the team doesn’t reach those standards by CP3’s efforts alone. That took the buy-in of the entire roster and specifically those five individuals who finished games.

OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carries on culture time prowess

With the OKC Thunder arriving at the 2020-21 season that amazing lineup was stripped of four-fifths of its members.  Dennis Schroder was traded to the defending champion Lakers, Danilo Gallinari was jettisoned to the Hawks in a sign and trade deal. Favorite son, Steven Adams was dealt to the Pelicans.

Most notably, the master of the clutch – – Chris Paul was packaged in a deal to  Phoenix who hoped his leadership would translate the same success for the young Suns.

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Entering the game between the Thunder and Suns on Wednesday, the Suns held an above .500 record of 8 -7. That positioned them to be among the teams who would participate in a play-in tournament. Much like the Thunder had done the season prior the Suns were integrating the new assets and figuring out the systems.

The biggest difference, however, was Phoenix had much greater constancy with the majority of their roster returning and an established system in place. The issues through the early season are the Suns’ starting unit hasn’t meshed in a way that is producing positive results as TI noted in our game preview.

Devin Booker and Chris Paul specifically aren’t recognizing the same organic fit that the savvy vet and his prior backcourt partner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did.

This brings me to the game on Wednesday evening in Phoenix. In fairness, Devin Booker was out dealing with a sore hamstring. Again, however, I’ll note CP3 and Booker haven’t performed well together on the court.

Entering clutch time, memories of last season flooded our thoughts as we recalled the numerous times Paul captained the Thunder to seize control and steal victories from opponents.

Paul was everywhere on the court and tried his best to shoulder the effort required to nab the victory. Instead, the player he developed a brotherly relationship with rose up to fully demonstrate what a captive student he had been.

Entering those precious final five minutes of the match the OKC Thunder had just cut the deficit to 89-91 following a Theo Maledon 3-pointer.

OKC locked in defensively and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became uber aggressive on both sides of the floor. He scored eight of the team’s 12 points in clutch time. Yet, his effect was everywhere on the court. He intersected a CP3 pass for a steal, grabbed a key offensive rebound, and assisted Luguentz Dort‘s go-ahead 3-pointer.

His most important contribution was his aggressiveness as he continually forced the Suns to move on defense primarily by driving to the basket where he was rewarded repeatedly with trips to the charity stripe.

On the night he flirted with a triple-double scoring 21 points, dishing eight dimes, and grabbing seven rebounds while also snagging two steals and two blocks. Again, eight of his 21 points occurred in clutch time.

In contrast, his mentor who was the game’s top scorer (32 points) scored two points in the clutch both at the free-throw line. Exhausted from having to do so much his legs weren’t in his shots. He missed all three of his shot attempts air-balling his final 3-point attempt and committed all four of his personal fouls in the final five minutes. Paul was visibly frustrated and in fairness, he set up every one of his teammates for wide-open looks or matchup advantages but only Mikal Bridges converted.

As the Thunder and Suns progress through the season their goals are distinctly different although they currently reside on the ninth and tenth ladder rungs respectively. Perhaps Paul and Booker along with his other Suns’ teammates will sort things out as the season progresses.

The one stat that can’t be ignored is the Suns rank 25th in clutch time win percentage while the Thunder ranks fifth!

Meanwhile, everything is gravy for the OKC Thunder, though most are hoping for a top draft pick. What isn’t up for debate is there is a new clutch time king in OKC and his name is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander!