The Oklahoma City Thunder just dropped Game 4 to the San Antonio Spurs, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got a brutal reminder from Jared McCain: Role players cannot be relied upon consistently. If the Thunder want to win this series, it has to come from SGA. McCain is a great bench spark plug, but he can’t be the Thunder’s offensive source on a nightly basis.
In Game 3, McCain was the Thunder’s saving grace. He scored 24 points, leading a monster bench charge for OKC, and helping lift them to a 2-1 series victory. But in Game 4, McCain only gave the Thunder four points, and Gilgeous-Alexander churned out a lackluster performance, too.
But for McCain, that’s just the life of a bench guy. Some nights, you just don’t have it. For Gilgeous-Alexander, the standard is higher.
Jared McCain reminded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander that role players can't be consistently relied upon
OKC’s bench was the focal point in Game 3. The bench guys combined to score a ridiculous 76 points, and it earned them a huge win over the Spurs on the road.
Gilgeous-Alexander leaned on his depth. Leaned on McCain. Leaned on Jaylin Williams. But he wasn’t able to do that on Sunday night. He wasn’t able to do it at all.
In addition to McCain’s struggle-filled night, Williams’ stats also took a huge step back. He went from shooting 5-of-6 from deep range in Game 3 to just 1-of-7 in Game 4.
As for McCain’s efficiency, he shot just 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-5 from deep range. It was a huge decline from the insane night he enjoyed on Friday.
Gilgeous-Alexander needed to be the superstar. He needed to be the guy who carried the load while the rest of his team was struggling. But for the second straight game, he just couldn’t get things going offensively.
In Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with just 19 points, four rebounds, and seven assists while shooting a measly 6-of-15 from the field and 0-of-1 from deep range. He did shoot 7-of-7 from the charity stripe, but it wasn’t enough.
It’s one thing to shoot poorly, not take a ton of shots, but dish out assists. He did that in Game 3, tallying 12 dimes. But those assist numbers are reliant on role players like McCain and Williams hitting the shots.
They didn’t do that in Game 4.
Gilgeous-Alexander has to be the guy in the playoffs, especially against such an impressive Spurs defense. He can’t depend on McCain to be a consistent scoring punch on a nightly basis.
Random role players can win a playoff game or two. But not consistently. That’s what Game 3 showed. And hopefully, it reminded Gilgeous-Alexander of that truth.
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