Shai scores 40 as Thunder on brink of NBA Finals
Washington: NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a masterpiece performance to power Oklahoma City over Minnesota 128-126 on Monday, lifting the Thunder to the brink of the NBA Finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 40 points and added 10 assists and nine rebounds to spark the Thunder, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series with game five to come on Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
"You know how close you are but you're still so far away," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"Play to our identity on both ends of the floor. If we do that we'll be just fine. If not, it could get ugly."
Jalen Williams added 34 points with 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range and Chet Holmgren contributed 21 for the Thunder.
"They were amazing," said Gilgeous-Alexander.
"They were confident. They weren't rattled by the moment... I'm nothing but proud of these two."
The Thunder have not reached the NBA Finals since losing to Miami in 2012 while the T-Wolves have never reached the championship series.
Reserves Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo sparked Minnesota with 23 and 21 points respectively, while Jaden McDaniels added 22.
"Give their role guys credit," said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. "The shotmaking was ridiculous so for us to overcome that on the road the way we did was a great team win.
"We're expecting their best punch in game five so we have to play hard again if we want to win."
Minnesota star guard Anthony Edwards, tightly marshalled all night, managed only 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
"Definitely not the points I wanted to get but they didn't let me get too many shots off," Edwards said.
"I don't look at it like I struggled. They just had a good game plan... I didn't get enough shots to say I struggled."
The Timberwolves surrendered 21 turnovers and allowed the Thunder 19 offensive rebounds.
"They got 40 more possessions and we lost by two," Edwards said. "We can work with that."
"You're not going to beat a team like this if you are turning it over 20-plus times," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
Oklahoma City won the first two games at home but host Minnesota delivered the worst playoff loss in Thunder history in game three.
"Had a bad taste in our mouths from the last game," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We wanted to control the things we could control."
Finch said the T-Wolves can win the series but added, "This isn't the formula to get it done. That's the most important thing to take away from tonight."
- 'BRAWL FROM THE JUMP' -
Both teams were physical and aggressive from the start, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each scoring 13 points in the first quarter as the Thunder took a 37-30 lead.
"It was just a brawl from the jump," Daigneault said. "The first five to seven minutes of that game was unbelievably physical. The guys just battled up."
Gilgeous-Alexander was 5-of-6 from the floor while Williams was 5-of-8 and 3-of-5 from three-point range in the first quarter.
"Shai was obviously brilliant. Chet was a monster," Daigneault said. "Everybody who went into the game gave us a huge contribution."
Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points in the first half as Oklahoma City led 65-57 at half-time and 90-85 entering the fourth quarter.
"I tried to lose myself in the game," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Be aggressive, pick my spots and doing so really helped."
McDaniels sank a left corner three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to lift Minnesota within 123-121, but Gilgeous-Alexander converted two free throws.
Gilgeous-Alexander answered a Gobert basket with another free throw but Minnesota had a late chance.
Naz Reid and Gilgeous-Alexander traded free throws for a 128-125 Thunder lead and Edwards was fouled with 3.5 seconds remaining.
He made the first free throw, deliberately missed the second, but Gilgeous-Alexander got the rebound and threw the ball out of bounds with 0.3 of a second to play. A failed desperation inbounds play sealed Minnesota's fate. "Definitely sucks being that close," Alexander-Walker said. "Got to play like there's no tomorrow because there isn't." — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Pacers edge Thunder in final seconds of NBA Finals
OKLAHOMA CITY: Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton sank the game-winning basket with 0.3 of a second remaining to give the Pacers a stunning 111-110 fightback victory over Oklahoma City in Thursday's opening game of the NBA Finals. Haliburton, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, gave the Pacers their only lead of the game on a dramatic 21-foot jump shot to deliver a shocker after Indiana had trailed by 15 points with 9:42 remaining. "I'm confident in my ability and feel like if I can get to my spot I'm really comfortable from there. I really had confidence in my shot," Haliburton said of the game winner. "We're just a really resilient group. We did a great job of just walking them down. When it gets to 15, you can panic or you can talk about how do you get it to 10, to five and from there. We just stuck with it. "We got a big stop there and they had a lot of confidence in me to make that shot." With a game-closing 14-2 run, the Pacers seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with game two on Sunday at Oklahoma City. "We've got to learn from it. There are obviously a lot of things we can clean up. Credit them. They went and got that game," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "They've had so many games like that that have seemed improbable and they just play with a great spirit and keep coming." It was the fifth 15-point-or-greater winning comeback by Indiana in this year's playoffs, the most by any team since 1998. "They went up 15 and we just said let's just keep chipping away at the rock," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We had a lot of experience in these kind of games and our guys have a real good feel for what it's all about, giving ourselves a chance. "We got fortunate, but made plays." Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points while reserve Obi Toppin added 17, Myles Turner had 15 and Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard each added 14. "It was a total team effort," said Haliburton. "We had so many guys chip in." The finish evoked memories of the first game in the Eastern Conference finals, when a Haliburton buzzer shot forced over-time as the Pacers stunned New York. He has four such deciders in the playoffs. — AFP
Observer
6 days ago
- Observer
Pacers defeat Knicks to reach first NBA Finals
LOS ANGELES, United States: The Indiana Pacers, fuelled by 31 points from Pascal Siakam and a 21-point double-double from Tyrese Haliburton, beat the New York Knicks 125-108 on Saturday to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. The Pacers used a big third quarter to break open a close game and kept the pressure on in the fourth period to win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals 4-2. They reached the championship series for the second time in franchise history, and will be chasing their first title when the Finals open in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Haliburton said the series triumph was especially sweet after the Pacers were swept in the conference finals last season by eventual champions Boston. "You know, we got to the same spot last year, fell short and we just worked our tails off as a group to get back here," he said. "It's been a bumpy road with our start and (I'm) just really proud of the resilience of this group." He was already looking ahead to the formidable challenge of the Thunder, who led the league with 68 regular season wins and saw star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named Most Valuable Player. "It's an exciting time, but we understand that there's a long road ahead, a lot more work to do," Haliburton said. "We've got four more to go." New York had fended off elimination with a dominant defensive display in game five, but couldn't send the series to a decisive game seven. Instead the Knicks, who earned their two NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, remain in search of their first trip to the Finals since 1999. Siakam, who won a title with Toronto in 2019, was named MVP of the series, bouncing back after a disappointing outing in game five, when the Knicks used a dominating defensive effort to extend the series. "After a bad game five, we wanted to bounce back," said Siakam, who added five rebounds and three blocked shots on Saturday. "And I have 100 per cent belief in my teammates. Whenever we're down, we always find a way — and we did that tonight." Haliburton shook off early shooting struggles to finish with 21, adding 13 assists to key an offensive effort that saw seven Pacers players score in double figures. PACERS RESPOND That included 18 off the bench from Obi Toppin and 11 from backup Thomas Bryant as the Pacers reserves outscored the Knicks reserves 38-20. "I'm really proud of this group," Haliburton said. "We had a tough showing last game as a group. We wanted to respond. "We did a great job of that," he added. "I'm just so proud of this group and I don't even have words right now." OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 14 rebounds and Jalen Brunson scored 19 points and handed out seven assists. But Indiana emerged from a fast-paced first quarter that featured five lead changes with a one-point lead and never trailed again, harrying New York into 18 turnovers that led to 34 Pacers points. Haliburton, scoreless in the first quarter, warmed up with eight points in the second, including a thunderous dunk after teammate Andrew Nembhard's steal — one of 10 of New York's first-half turnovers. Nembhard came up with another steal from Brunson and fed Siakam for a layup to push Indiana's lead to six points before Anunoby drilled a basket in the final second of the first half to cut the Knicks' deficit to 58-54 at the break. The Pacers opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run and pushed their lead to 15 points, 78-63, on back-to-back three-pointers from Nembhard and Bryant, sending the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse into a frenzy. The Knicks quickly trimmed the deficit to seven only for the Pacers to pull away and take a 92-77 lead into the fourth quarter. Haliburton, who had just 10 points through the first three quarters, added 11 in the final frame as the Pacers romped home. — AFP
Observer
31-05-2025
- Observer
Real Madrid pay fee to sign Liverpool's Trent before Club World Cup
Real Madrid: Real Madrid have signed Trent Alexander-Arnold on a six-year deal, the LaLiga club said on Friday, paying Liverpool a fee to release the England defender from his contract a month early to allow him to join before the Club World Cup. Alexander-Arnold, who joined Liverpool when he was six and made 354 appearances for the Premier League side since his senior debut in 2016, said earlier this month he would leave the club once his contract expired on June 30. However, Real have signed Alexander-Arnold before his Liverpool contract ended, making him available for the Club World Cup to be played from June 14-July 13 in the United States. "Liverpool will receive a fee for his services, with the deal to be concluded once the window opens on June 1," Liverpool said in a statement, with British media reporting Real paid the Premier League champions 10 million pounds ($13.48 million). Newly-appointed Real coach Xabi Alonso will hope Alexander-Arnold's inclusion solves the club's defensive woes, with right back Daniel Carvajal among five defenders out with injuries. Real, who failed to defend their LaLiga and Champions League titles this season, played winger Lucas Vazquez at right back for most of the campaign due to the injury crisis. With 33-year-old Carvajal entering the twilight of his career, Alexander-Arnold will be seen as part of Real's succession plan. Alexander-Arnold, who can also play in midfield, scored 23 goals and provided 92 assists for Liverpool in his senior career. He has scored four goals for England. Born in Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold rose through the youth ranks to become one of the best right backs in the world, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League and the Club World Cup with the English team. The 26-year-old frequently played in a hybrid midfield role for Liverpool in recent seasons, operating as a full back when out of possession but moving into midfield during attacks. The Liverpool-born player bid a tearful farewell to his boyhood club as he collected his second Premier League winner's medal on Sunday, having also helped the club previously win the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup. "Alexander-Arnold leaves Liverpool FC with the club appreciative and grateful for his contribution to those successes," Liverpool added. He joins England teammate Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid, a club that has signed famous Englishmen in the past like Steve McManaman, David Beckham and Michael Owen. — Reuters
