SGA’s Admission Could Spell Future Disaster For Lakers in West Semis

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not look like his usual self in Game 1 of the OKC Thunder’s Western Conference semifinals clash against the LA Lakers. He had 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, yet the Thunder looked as dominant as they were when Gilgeous-Alexander had an amazing offensive night. 

After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander labeled his performance as just “OK” and vowed to be better as the series goes on. 

“I was OK. It wasn’t my best. It wasn’t my worst,” he said via ESPN after the Thunder’s 108-90 win against the Lakers. 

Forcing Gilgeous-Alexander, this year’s MVP frontrunner, into a bad offensive game is a feat for the Lakers, whose squad employed constant double teams throughout Game 1. However, a bad SGA game almost always results in a Thunder loss. 

Gilgeous-Alexander’s output was his lowest since Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals last year against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In that game, the Thunder lost by 42 points. 

Gilgeous-Alexander also struggled in taking care of the ball, recording a season-high seven turnovers, just as much as his Game 6 performance in the NBA Finals last year against the Indiana Pacers, which ended in a loss and forced Game 7. 

Gilgeous-Alexander was his biggest critic after the game, expressing regrets about his turnovers and how sloppy he looked throughout the game. 

“I was loose with the ball, had a lot of turnovers,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think that comes to the rust and not playing for a little bit. They’re obviously very aggressive, but I feel like for most of the night we got great looks.”

The Thunder has not played in eight days before the series after sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round. 

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JJ Redick Rues Lakers’ Mistakes Against the Thunder in Game 1

JJ Redick observed a plethora of mistakes from the Lakers that doomed them in Game 1 against the Thunder. 

Redick said the game plan was hampered throughout the game because of the Lakers’ errors. 

“I think it was a general theme throughout the night when we made game plan mistakes; they hurt us,” he said via FadeAway World. “I thought the Houston Game 5 was the most game plan mistakes we made in a playoff game so far. We obviously lost that game. You’re playing the world champs; your margin for error in terms of mistakes is not that high. 

“Basketball is a game full of mistakes. There are just too many tonight. We’ve got to clean that up. But there were some good things. We won the expected score. Held Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] under 20. He ended up with seven turnovers. The guys played hard.”

The Lakers kept it close early on before the Thunder punished the Lakers’ double teams on SGA as Chet Holmgren and Ajay Mitchell took the scoring cudgels with 24 and 18 points, respectively. 

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Lakers Prepare for Crucial Game 2

Game 2 of the series will be on Thursday, May 7, in Oklahoma City. 

A win would be pivotal for the Lakers as they look to tie the series before going back to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4. 

The Lakers are expected to remain without Luka Doncic, while the Thunder will be playing without Jalen Williams. 

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