Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tilts his head and pauses for several seconds to think. At a press conferencea journalist just asked him if he had the feeling that the Thunder’s opponents tended to pay even more attention to details, as the Suns were able to do last night.
« I think… yeah, probably. Of the six times we lost this year, that was the case. When you lose a match, that’s often the case, especially with a squad like ours. Very often, we do not lose because of lack of talent, but because of these small details », Finally blurted out the leader of the Thunder.
There were many details in this game, starting with the rebound battle largely lost by the Thunder (29-49). Or the fact that OKC was almost unable to express itself on the counterattack: only 2 points.
With a clumsy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (25 points at 8/22), the Thunder had rarely scored so few points (105 units, their 3rd lowest offensive output of the year). But to hear “SGA”, it is not surprising coming from the opponents of his formation.
« Given who we are and what we have accomplished, the teams will come here with increased intensity. They will want to test themselves against the reigning champions and really see where they are. I know because when I played against the defending champions in the past, that’s how I approached it », Develops the Canadian.
A good opportunity for the Thunder too
Thus, last year, playing against the Celtics, winners of the trophy in 2024, “ it was an opportunity to see where we were at that point. This is how it works », Notes the leader of the team, who won his two duels against Boston last season.
The Suns had lost twice so far against the Thunder this season. Including a colossal 49-point defeat in the NBA Cup. But, as Mark Daigneault recalls, Devin Booker, author of the winning shot that night, did not play that evening.
The Thunder coach believes that this match in Phoenix was also “ a good opportunity » for his team to gauge themselves, against an opponent who had won five of their last six meetings.
« It had all the makings of a high-flying regular season match, and these kinds of matches are very valuable for us. This gives us very precise feedback on our real level at different times of the season. And I found that to be the case tonight. We clearly didn’t pass the test well enough to win the match. But if we focus on improvements, it’s a good match for us », Judges the coach.
Before this setback, the Thunder remained on four straight victories and now has the opportunity to resume its journey with opponents a notch below (Hornets, Jazz, Grizzlies) before facing the Spurs again on January 13.
