Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hated every second of it.
As the Oklahoma City Thunder battled through overtime without him, the reigning MVP covered his eyes with a towel on the bench, powerless to help as his teammates gutted out a 127â121 victory over the Denver Nuggets in a chippy, playoff-level matchup Friday night.
âIt sucks. I hate it,â Gilgeous-Alexander said afterward. âI canât wait for the minute restriction to be over. But if I reinjure this injury, none of it will matter. Thatâs how I see it.â
Minutes Restriction Forced a Pre-Planned Thunder Call
Gilgeous-Alexander was playing under a strict minutes restriction in his first game back after missing nine contests with an abdominal strain. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said the decision to sit the teamâs best player in overtime was mapped out well before tipoff â intentionally removing emotion from a potentially chaotic moment.
Gilgeous-Alexander confirmed that plan, even admitting he would have resisted if it were sprung on him in the heat of the moment.
âThey kind of had no choice, because if they tried that on the fly, I wasnât going to go,â he said. âSo they had to get ahead of it. With that being said, it is the right decision to make. If I reinjure this injury, everything weâve done up to this point doesnât matter. Thatâs first and foremost.â
Dominant Night Until the Clock Ran Out
Despite sitting out overtime, Gilgeous-Alexander still delivered a signature performance in regulation, finishing with 36 points in 34 minutes while adding nine assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Oklahoma City trailed 83â77 entering the fourth quarter before rallying behind its superstar. The Thunder surged ahead 107â105 with 1:23 remaining, only for Denverâs Nikola JokiÄ to answer with a tying basket with 38 seconds left.
The Nuggets then forced overtime when Christian Braun blocked Gilgeous-Alexanderâs late attempt, sending the game into an extra session where the Thunder would have to survive without their MVP.
Watching Was Worse Than Playing
That survival test was excruciating for Gilgeous-Alexander to endure from the sideline.
âI hate watching pressure moments when Iâm not in them,â he said. âI hate it. Itâs not because I donât have faith in my teammates â I just canât stand pressure when Iâm not involved. When Iâm involved, I love it. But when Iâm not involved, I hate it.â
Thunderâs Depth Delivers in Overtime
Without Gilgeous-Alexander â and without Isaiah Hartenstein â Oklahoma Cityâs supporting cast rose to the moment. Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe scored six points apiece in overtime, while Chet Holmgren calmly knocked down all four of his free throws to seal the win.
The victory preserved the Thunderâs hold atop the Western Conference standings, maintaining a two-game cushion over the San Antonio Spurs.
âI was 100% confident going into overtime,â Gilgeous-Alexander said. âEven though I wasnât playing and Hart wasnât playing, I knew we had a shot to win for sure.â
Trust Built Through Adversity
Gilgeous-Alexander credited Oklahoma Cityâs recent stretch â marked by injuries and lineup shuffling â for building the trust required to survive moments like Friday night.
âThe groupâs been impressive the last couple weeks with so many guys out,â he said. âWeâve had three of our primary handlers out for almost a month now. Most teams donât go through that. The way theyâve found ways to score and win games has been very impressive.â
He admitted he expected the defense to hold, but worried about how the offense would respond without familiar creators.
âTheyâve done a great job figuring it out on the fly,â he said. âGuys have stepped up in big ways â not only tonight, but over the past couple weeks.â
A Win That Meant More
Doing it against Denver â one of Oklahoma Cityâs primary Western Conference challengers â made the win even sweeter, even if Gilgeous-Alexander wasnât on the floor when it mattered most.
âGuys made shots, made plays, got stops â what felt like the whole overtime,â he said. âSuper impressive, especially against a high-powered offense like that. To get stops against a premier offense speaks volumes about our defense.â
For Gilgeous-Alexander, the frustration was real, but so was the perspective.
âIt sucks,â he said. âBut it was the right decision to make.â
And the Thunder walked away with a statement win to prove it.
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