SAN FRANCISCO — Surrender or go to war.
Those were Golden State’s only options when it jogged out of tunnel after halftime. It trailed OKC by 19 points on a night when it was without Stephen Curry (left quadriceps contusion), and Jimmy Butler was also ruled out for the second half due to a sore left knee.
And yet it should come as no surprise which option the Warriors chose. They fought back by sacrificing their bodies for loose balls, battling on the boards for extra opportunities and bombarding the Thunder with waves of 3-pointers.
But wars often come down to which side has the biggest weapon, and none are larger than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The superstar guard was lethal, scoring 38 points in 36 minutes to help OKC earn a 124-112 win. And he showed off his sharpshooting skills down the stretch.
Gilgeous-Alexander accosted Buddy Hield with crossovers as he neared the 3-point line with 3:40 remaining. He then stepped back and released a long-range shot that hit its mark. The crowd recoiled in agony, all while Gilgeous-Alexander moved his arms aggressively in a way that mimicked a reloading motion.
He had no shortage of ammunition.
“It’s obviously very impressive,” Chet Holmgren said of Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to close games consistently. “No matter what you do as a defense, you’re wrong. If you play him straight up, that’s what he does. That’s what he gets paid a lot of money to do. That’s why he is the player that he is.”
OKC (21-1) is on a 13-game winning streak. It’ll now return home for a game against Dallas at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Order new book on Thunder’s run to NBA title
Jalen Williams was present in the moment
Jalen Williams admitted it was hard not to look ahead of Tuesday.
His mind naturally traveled 45 miles south of the bay to Santa Clara, where his No. 24 jersey is set to be retired Wednesday. It’s an honor only seven other Broncos men’s basketball alums have received.
But when the ball tipped off Tuesday, Williams’ mind returned to where his feet are. And the only time it traveled south was when it told him to get downhill, like it did on OKC’s opening possession. He drove into the lane, pulled up and drilled an 8-footer over his defender.
Williams continued to be present in the moment, as he played within the flow of the game. He attacked when he saw an open lane. He swung the ball when he saw an open teammate. He flew around the floor on defense, providing help when he saw fit.
Williams finished with 22 points, six assists, one steal and one block. It’s another well-rounded performance for the All-NBA forward, who’s three games into his return from a nagging right shooting wrist injury.
Now, he can shift his focus to Wednesday’s ceremony.
“It’s very special,” Williams said. “Obviously, I learned how to be a better basketball player (at Santa Clara). But I think I just learned how to be a better person. … A lot of cool memories that go outside of basketball. All of my life-long friends are from that school. And then obviously it gave me a lot of leeway with the coaching staff and playing (time) and the opportunity to be able to play at this level.”
Chet Holmgren came up big
Will Richard held both hands up in the air as Holmgren placed a left shoulder into his chest.
The 6-foot-3 rookie did all he could to make up for the size mismatch against Holmgren, who’s 7-foot-1. But even with his arms stretched to their limits, they weren’t higher than the top of Holmgren’s head.
There wasn’t anything left to do but hope Holmgren missed, which he didn’t. OKC’s star big man spun and sank a 7-footer over Richard with ease, giving his team a 72-57 lead with 7:31 left in the third quarter.
Holmgren continued to come up big against a Golden State team that opted to run 6-6 forward Draymond Green at the five. Holmgren racked up 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
“It’s going to be important because teams are going to try to downsize against us when he’s at the five,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said of Holmgren’s aggressiveness. “Even when they’re not downsized, they might try to put guards on him at times. Those skills of finding him against the switches on his roles is important to us. We did a good job of it.
“That’s a tool that we have to develop because that’s a game plan that we’ll see quite a bit as we move through the season.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC are battle tested
OKC is now 9-1 this season in clutch games, which is defined by the NBA as the score being within five points during the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
Gilgeous-Alexander also continues to rise to those occasions. He entered the game with the most total clutch points (80) in the NBA this season on 52.4% shooting from the field.
Gilgeous-Alexander recorded seven points and one assist on 3-for-4 shooting from the field (75%) in the final five minutes of Tuesday’s contest.
“I just think every game in the NBA is going to look different on every night,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think it’s a skill that you have to learn and develop as a team to just roll with the punches. Just take whatever the game, whatever the team and whatever the night gives you and figure out how to come out on top. Not making excuses and being able to get the job done is something that translates to winning on the highest level.
“I think because we’ve done a good job of building that skill, it’s allowed us to obviously win a championship last year and then get off to the start we’ve had this year.”
Tip-insGilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points in 94 consecutive regular-season games, which is the second-longest streak in NBA history. He only trails Wilt Chamberlain (126 games).OKC was without Lu Dort (right adductor strain), Alex Caruso (right quad soreness), Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus calf strain), Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgery recovery) and Nikola Topić (surgery recovery).Daigneault on former Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari, who announced his retirement Tuesday: “I was an assistant, and he was like a player development guy for me. … Great personality. Great locker room guy. Fun guy to be around. He was on that bubble team, so we were in the bubble together. I’ve got these like unique experiences with him despite the fact that it was short period of time. Great player. Great career. He’s someone we have a lot of respect for and are thankful for. I congratulate him.”
Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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TIPOFF: 8:30 p.m. Friday at Paycom Center (Prime Video)