Shai Gilgeous-Alexander called on the Oklahoma City Thunder to self-reflect after falling to the San Antonio Spurs for the third time in two weeks on Christmas Day.
“You don’t lose to a team three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you,” the reigning NBA MVP said Thursday. “We have to get better. We have to look in the mirror – and that’s everybody, from top to bottom – if we want to reach our ultimate goal.”
The Spurs rolled to a 15-point victory in Oklahoma City two days after beating the defending champions in San Antonio. The Spurs also silenced the Thunder in the semifinals of the NBA Cup on a neutral court.
Oklahoma City is 0-3 against San Antonio but 26-2 against the rest of the league this season. The Spurs are 23-7, giving them the second-best record in the Western Conference.
“They’re just a good basketball team,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They know how to play, they have talent, they play the right way, they play together. When you mix those things together for any basketball team, you win games.”
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points in the latest Spurs-Thunder battle, going a modest 7-of-19 from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point land. He poured in 33 points and 29 points with better efficiency in the other two losses.