Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are preparing for the most pressure-packed games of their season.
An all-important Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals awaits the defending champions on Saturday.
One big storyline entering the decisive matchup is the drop in production from Gilgeous-Alexander, and one NBA pundit gave his take on the reigning MVP’s efficiency during the postseason.
Nick Wright Questions Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Free Throw Dependency
Gilgeous-Alexander is grinding through a glaring postseason offensive slump in his career. The reigning two-time MVP managed a season-low 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting during the 118-91 Game 6 blowout to the Spurs.
Fans and experts across the league have continuously slammed Gilgeous-Alexander’s offensive tactics during this playoff run. The general perception is that the Thunder star relies on foul-baiting when defenses tighten up.
Shedding light on the matter, NBA analyst Nick Wright highlighted how the OKC star’s effectiveness dips when officials let the teams play through physical contact and the stark contrast in his regular-season and postseason numbers.
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“Shai never has bad regular-season games,” Wright asserted. “But in the last two years in the playoffs, this is now, this is a stunning number: Scoring less than 20 zero times in the last 140 regular season games, and six of his last 37 playoff games.”
“And when we get upset about some of the falling down, which except for one sequence yesterday, I thought he did a more honorable job of, but he didn’t get the calls,” Wright said. “And this postseason, his dominance has been tied directly to getting the calls.”
Wright noted that during playoff games this year, where Gilgeous-Alexander earns 8 or fewer free throws, his field goal percentage drops to 41.4%, and he averages just 21.6 points.
But when he shoots more than 8 free throws, SGA’s production becomes MVP-caliber again.
SGA scored at least 20 points in 140 consecutive regular-season games, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary streak. But in the playoffs, he failed to crack 20 points 6 times in his last 37 appearances.
Wright clarified that while former MVPs like Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose had inefficient playoff series, their base shooting numbers were never as high as Gilgeous-Alexander’s regular-season marks.
“Iverson and Rose while great players, were inefficient players. So their calling card was not 50-plus percent from the field,” Wright said. “So while those were inefficient, Shai’s drop is drastically larger than theirs are.”
When Gilgeous-Alexander struggles to hit shots or draw help defenders, OKC fails to keep up.
Game 7 offers SGA a chance to dispel this playoff slump argument or hand San Antonio their first ticket to the Finals since 2014.
