OKC Thunder: 3 takeaways as OKC almost beat champs
The OKC Thunder came out firing against the Lakers in the City of Angels.
Witnessing a young squad dominate early against King James and the 2020 NBA Champions was amazing.
Some magnificent shooting and an all-around contribution offensively got the Thunder off to a great start. They scored 40 points in the paint and shot 46.3 percent from the field in the first half.
OKC was slow to score in the second half, putting up two points to the Lakers first 10 which gave them a four-point lead.
This lead was maintained throughout the match but it got intense in the final quarter with the match going to overtime thanks to All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. (He may not be one yet, but he will. Got to speak it into existence). After being fouled by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, he made three free-throws to give the Thunder a golden chance of beating the reigning victors.
Going into the extra five minutes of play, the Thunder couldn’t quite get the job done. Despite the loss, there were so many impressive moments and individual performances.
Three takeaways from the OKC Thunder’s loss to the Lakers:
No. 1) SGA cannot be stopped, not even by the King
When Sam Presti made that blockbuster trade in 2019 that included SGA, he sure knew what he was doing.
A lot of faith goes into a decision and franchise move like that, but it’s clear that when you’re getting a player like Shai you just know.
You know that something special is going to come out of it and we are seeing it now with every spectacular performance SGA has. The way he leads with conviction at only 22-years of age is remarkable.
Against the Lakers, he went out and made it known that he’s not just any player. He’s Shaivonte Aician Gilgeous-Alexander and everyone better know.
He recorded 29 points, (one more than LeBron) 10 assists, seven rebounds, and a block. In the clutch, he was composed and had LeBron guarding him.
There are many games this season that you could say was his “arrival” game. But I believe this one comes very close.
A near triple-double, sending the game to OT, and getting close to beating the greatest player in the world in his house! Now that’s superstar status.