Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have found a new way for players to motivate themselves when they are trying to lead their team to a second consecutive championship.
Speaking to reporters after Friday’s 132-101 win over the Sacramento Kings, Gilgeous-Alexander explained he has avoided falling into complacency this season in part because he “didn’t like the way” Oklahoma City won the NBA Finals last summer:
“Honestly speaking, I didn’t like the way we won, if that makes sense. I didn’t think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball. That was the first time we’d been that far in the playoffs, so it was a learning experience for us. But it takes another level of focus, discipline, assertiveness, aggression, to be who we were in the regular season, and do that throughout the postseason.”
There’s not an unreasonable argument that Oklahoma City’s title win can be attributed in no small part to Tyrese Haliburton’s injury suffered in the first quarter of the decisive Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Haliburton scored nine points in seven minutes before tearing his right Achilles. The Pacers managed to lead 48-47 going into halftime despite not having their best player on the court for most of the first half.
The third quarter was when Oklahoma City finally pulled away, outscoring the Pacers 34-20 during that 12-minute span en route to a 103-91 victory.
Oklahoma City played two Game 7s during its postseason run. The first one was a largely non-competitive 125-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals.
Even though there were some sweaty moments for the Thunder along the way, the metrics did show they were largely dominant overall in the postseason. Their plus-8.4 net rating was 2.4 points better than any other team that played at least 10 playoff games.
By comparison, the 2023-24 Boston Celtics had a historically-dominant playoff run with a plus-8.7 net rating in 19 games.
If Gilgeous-Alexander is really able to channel his disappointment with how the Thunder played last postseason, despite winning the title, into his performance this season, the rest of the NBA might not stand a chance at touching Oklahoma City.
The Thunder certainly seem laser-focused right now based on their 9-1 start to the season. Their plus-13.6 net rating is by far the best in the NBA. The Nuggets are the only other team with a positive net rating of at least 10.0 (plus-12.2).
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging more points per game (33.0) and shooting better from the field (52.3) than he did during his MVP campaign last season.