Oklahoma City Thunder player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 45 points in the 128-134 win over the LA Clippers on Monday. As the team has to grapple with Chet Holmgren for the next months, the point guard is reflecting on his role on the team.
“Every great player fights trying to find a balance between when to score, take over, and when to make the right play and get your teammates involved, and it’s something that I continue to work on and continue to get better at. Both of them work hand in hand,” he told the press after the match.
However, this mindset also comes from the team’s loss in the 2024 playoffs. “I don’t say this to slight my teammates,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I feel like the end of our season last year, in the playoffs — obviously for a lot of them it was the first time in the playoffs and playing games that meaningful. And I don’t want to say they weren’t ready, but I feel like I could have equipped them better throughout the year in taking shots, getting to spots and being more comfortable in certain positions on the court, especially offensively.”
He added: “When we lost, I thought about why we lost. Obviously, there are so many things to nitpick. At the end of the day, I can only control what I can control. I try to look at it through that lens. I think that’s one of the things I can definitely control through my play on a night-to-night basis.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoots during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
While his performance on Monday night was key to his team’s win, he doesn’t want to let it get to his head too much. “It’s very easy to get caught in individual performances. But no individual has ever won a championship. That’s my main goal with basketball,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded, via The Oklahoman.
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Chet Holmgren to be out at least two months
Holmgren suffered a right iliac hip fracture during the Thunder’s loss against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, Nov. 10th. This blow is especially hard for the team, as they also Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams are also out of duty due to injuries, meaning the team doesn’t have a true center.
After the narrow win against the Clippers, forward Jalen Williams talked about the team situation. “It’s just trusting each other to make extra plays, and not try and force stuff because (Holmgren is) out,” he said, per The Oklahoman. “That’s something that we had to do without (Hartenstein) playing. … Just human nature, you try to get it all back at once. So, I think we’ve done a good job of just helping each other out as a team,” he reflected.
