The Oklahoma City Thunder came up short against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center, falling 116-109 despite a remarkable outing from Shai GilgeousāAlexander. The game marked the second time in his career that Gilgeous-Alexander scored 50 or more points, but his stellar effort wasnāt enough to secure a win for the Thunder.
From the opening quarter, it was clear the Canadian guard was on pace for a monster night, scoring 21 of the Thunderās 34 points in the first 12 minutes. He finished the game with 52 points, setting a career-high for points in a half with 31 in the opening two quarters.
However, Gilgeous-Alexanderās outstanding performance was overshadowed by his frustration with the loss. Speaking to reporters after the game, he expressed his disappointment despite his outstanding performance. āIt sucks. Me, personally, I play to win. Winning comes first and foremost,ā Gilgeous-Alexander said, via Joel Lorenzi. āIf I donāt win, Iām not satisfiedā.
āSo maybe my 52 points tonight wasnāt in the best interest of the team, whatever it is. Iāll watch the game over,ā he continued. āSee where I could have been better and try to win the game; thatās whatās most important. So, Iām not satisfied. This doesnāt feel nearly as good as the other one did because of the outcomeā.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after making a basket in the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
This marked the second time in his six-year NBA career that Gilgeous-Alexander scored more than 50 points in a game. Just over a week ago, he tallied a career-high 54 points against the Utah Jazz in a winning effort, making that performance all the more satisfying compared to Sundayās loss.
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Steve Kerrās funny attempt to stop Shai
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr admitted he didnāt have an answer for stopping Gilgeous-Alexander, who torched Golden State throughout the game. In a humorous moment, Kerr revealed that he jokingly asked Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault to leave Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench for a longer time.
āI donāt know what to do with Shai,ā Kerr said, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic. āI asked Mark (Daigneault) at one point just to leave him on the bench for a couple more minutes, and he didnāt complyā.
āI think Shai came back in with like 10 minutes left in the fourth, and I looked down to Mark and said, āCanāt give him two more minutes? That would be really helpful for us.ā And he just laughed,ā Kerr told reporters after the game.
Thunder coach praises Warriorsā effort
After the game, Daigneault acknowledged the Warriorsā impressive performance and conceded they deserved the win due to their strong effort on both ends of the floor.
ā[Golden State] played really well tonight,ā Daigneault said after the game, via Nick Gallo. āBoth ends of the floor, theyāre really physical. Then on the offensive end, they obviously had good shot-making after they got out of the first quarter, and they deserved to winā.
āWe generated some decent shots at times, and then there were other ones where we werenāt quite as sharp,ā Daigneault added. āI thought the pressure bothered us a little bit tonight. We just didnāt have the force necessary to combat thatā.
