After a dominant performance in Game 5 at home, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder were a shell of themselves in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.
The reigning MVP was far from his best on Thursday night.
After a slow start in the first quarter, the Thunder fought back and brought the deficit to just seven points. However, the San Antonio Spurs blew them away in the third quarter and held onto their lead. In the end, the Spurs recorded a much needed 118-91 victory at the Frost Bank Center.
With over a minute to go in the second quarter, Spurs forward Carter Bryant pulled off a rugby-style tackle on SGA. It was a controversial foul but was ultimately ruled a common foul after review.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in the spotlight for his flopping and foul-baiting antics. In Game 3, the Spurs crowd were chanting 'flopper' to get under his skin. While he has remained unbothered by the noise, the criticism is only getting stronger with every passing game.
Meanwhile, the Spurs have accused the Thunder of getting away with too much physicality during this series. However, Bryant can count himself lucky that he was called for just a common foul.
This dirty play comes after Victor Wembanyama was seen whispering something to Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee towards the end of Game 5. The two big men went on to commit two hard fouls on Jared McCain. Hence, it looks like the Spurs are getting away with some questionable moments as well.
The tackle was definitely an uncalled move from Carter Bryant. However, it also showed that the Spurs were ready to bring in the physicality on Thursday night.
The clip of Bryant crashing into SGA got the NBA community buzzing across social media.
Several fans enjoyed what they saw from the 20-year-old youngster. The play was reminiscent to when Kobe Bryant ran straight into his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Pau Gasol on the very first play of the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off an incredible 2025-26 regular season. He averaged over 30 points for the fourth consecutive season and was named as the MVP. However, things have not been the same for him in the postseason.
The Canadian international has struggled to score at will during this playoff series. In Game 6, he scored just 15 points. After not scoring less than 20 points all regular season, SGA just had his third game where he scored below 20 points in this postseason.
A Game 7 beckons for SGA and the Thunder. The Thunder guard revealed that he is ready to do whatever it takes to make it into the finals this year.
I'm good. I'm ready to go. Biggest game of my career…if I lose my season's over.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in his post match press conferenceThe Thunder have history on their side as they have never lost a Game 7 at home in franchise history. They are 4-0 in Game 7 at home. Meanwhile, most of the Spurs players will be playing in their first ever Game 7. However, SGA is ready for the biggest game of his young career.
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