‘Stoic' SGA shuts up critics with torrid fourth quarter to even NBA Finals

New York Times

14 hours ago

INDIANAPOLIS — If you didn't know any better late Wednesday night inside the visitors locker room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, you'd almost wonder if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander truly understood the magnitude of this NBA Finals moment.
His Oklahoma City Thunder squad which was historically dominant in the regular season had fallen yet again to the relentless Indiana Pacers, with the prospect of an all-time upset in this series more real than ever. He had been on a historic postseason run, one that rivals the likes of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but this latest turn for the worse was the kind of thing that could stain a young superstar's early legacy.
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Yet there was Gilgeous-Alexander, the 26-year-old MVP who had picked the worst possible time to become passive with his game, chatting with his teammates at his locker as if this was a loss in January.
Did he understand the stakes here, how a second straight campaign in which his Thunder had the league's best regular-season mark only to fall short in the playoffs would be such a brutal look? Was this going to end like his Team Canada experience at the Paris Olympics, where those medal hopes went unfulfilled and he would later admit that he 'overlooked the opportunity a little bit?'
His mood was strangely light. His postgame fit, which he spent several minutes perfecting before heading to the news conference podium, was clearly a priority. No chairs in the room had been flipped. There was zero tension in the room. The signs of behind-the-scenes desperation — so often a necessary ingredient for survival in title-contending times like these — were nowhere to be found.
Truth be told, it was all so bizarrely chill.
'Fellas, appreciate you,' Gilgeous-Alexander said to his teammates as he headed out for the night.
Two nights later, with Gilgeous-Alexander's furious finish saving the Thunder's season in their 111-104 win in Friday's Game 4 and marking the most meaningful performance of his young career, the feeling has never been more mutual.
After Gilgeous-Alexander spent most of the previous two games straying from his steadiness, his stat line not reflecting that he was fading and the Pacers managing his production despite not double-teaming him, he came to life. He scored 15 of the Thunder's final 16 points, with those final four minutes so impactful that they might wind up being the turning point of this surprisingly wonderful series. He finished with 35 points (albeit with zero assists), hitting 12 of 24 shots and burying all 10 of his free throws.
This was the kind of stuff that legends are made of — even if Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't look or act like so many of the greats who came before. What's more, it was further confirmation that his steady demeanor should not be mistaken for weakness.
This is just him. And yes, in case you hadn't been convinced by now, he is Him.
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Just ask his teammates.
'You wouldn't know if it was a preseason game or it's Game 4 of the NBA Finals down 2-1 with him,' said Thunder guard Alex Caruso, who had 20 points and five steals Friday night. 'That's why we have such a good mentality as a group. That's why we are able to find success in adversity. No matter what's going on, you look at him and he's the same. Underneath that stoic personality or (his) look on the court is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness. That is sprinkled throughout the whole team. …He never blinks, never shies away from the moment.'
It sure felt like that wasn't the case as the end of Game 4 neared, though.
As the second half began, I was texting with a rival assistant coach to get an outside perspective on what was unfolding. Gilgeous-Alexander had 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting at the half, but he was a minus-12 as the Pacers led 60-57. The report card wasn't pleasant.
'I honestly think SGA has been atrocious,' the coach wrote. 'He looks tired. Worn out. Slow. … They haven't had to double him. It hasn't been some magical scheme. (The Pacers) have just worn him out with their pressure. They did the same to (the New York Knicks' Jalen) Brunson (in the Eastern Conference finals). …He's looked so bad on defense.'
In a way, it was comforting to know that it wasn't just us media types who were confused by his play. And, truth be told, his vibe.
It's safe to assume that the Thunder find this whole curiosity about Gilgeous-Alexander's aura comical. But he remains an enigma to the media masses, an all-time level talent who doesn't emote like Kobe Bryant or Russell Westbrook, talk trash like Kevin Garnett, or deliver demonstrative highlights like LeBron. The lack of that visible intensity that is so common this time of year, and which is so often equated with passion and commitment, is nowhere to be found in the SGA highlights.
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And apparently that doesn't matter a lick.
'Same demeanor as always,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said when asked about SGA's late-game energy. 'You really wouldn't know whether he's up three, down three, up 30, down 30, eating dinner on a Wednesday. He's pretty much the same guy.
'It's unbelievable. He really didn't have it going a lot of the night. He was laboring. We had a hard time shaking him free. For him to be able to flip the switch like that and get the rhythm he got just speaks to how great of a player he is. …It's nothing we don't know, but he definitely showed who he is tonight.'
All while showing the Pacers that his way — the calm, cool and collected way — works just fine after all.
'I just tried to be aggressive,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight. I didn't want to go out not swinging. I didn't want to go out not doing everything I could do in my power, in my control to try to win the game.
'The guys deserve that much from me. The coaching staff deserves that much from me. I just tried to be aggressive, but also let the game come to me, not try to force anything too crazy. I guess it paid off.'
As the assistant coach put it at night's end, 'He shut me up.'
He was hardly alone.