{"id":1951290,"date":"2026-05-23T12:19:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1951290"},"modified":"2026-05-23T12:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:19:40","slug":"shai-gilgeous-alexander-beat-spurs-and-his-critics-with-a-savvy-game-3-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1951290","title":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander beat Spurs and his critics with a savvy Game 3 show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Subtlety and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander don\u2019t spend much time together. He\u2019s a neon personality with an extravagant game and an unapologetic disposition.<\/p>\n

But his deconstruction of the San Antonio Spurs in Oklahoma City\u2019s 123-108 win on Friday<\/a> in Game 3, seizing control of the Western Conference finals, was shrewd enough to overlook. A (presumably unintentional) master class in trolling.<\/p>\n

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Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s 26 points and 12 assists won\u2019t register among his greatest performances. Still, it fits as a microcosm of his manifold excellence and single-minded approach. After lighting up San Antonio in Game 2<\/a> with 30 points and nine assists, SGA used the Spurs\u2019 reaction to his breakout to his advantage in Game 3. And it played right into his role as antagonist in this playoff production.<\/p>\n

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The Spurs fans in pastel shirts at Frost Bank Center chanted \u201cFLOP-PER! FLOP-PER!\u201d<\/a> \u2014 derision aimed at SGA and featuring enough volume and condescension to feel like a hook on a dis record. They jeered as they spent pregame hate-watching videos of Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s blatant attempts to draw fouls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect that from the opposing team,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to like me. They shouldn\u2019t. I get it. It is part of the game. They\u2019re doing their part in making the game exciting. Watching sports, playing sports, my whole life \u2014 that\u2019s always what it\u2019s been in. Just because it\u2019s me, it\u2019s no different. I expect that from them. I honestly like it. It makes the game more interesting and more fun, more exciting. Whether they\u2019re for or against me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The notorious foul baiter, who gets up seven times and falls eight, and who sometimes gets a whistle that makes the refs seem more like his Secret Service detail, did something even more irritating to his critics. SGA burned the Spurs by drawing actual fouls.<\/p>\n

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After San Antonio jumped out to a 15-0 lead, Oklahoma City walked them down slowly, like the killer in an 1980s horror film. The Thunder\u2019s depth paid massive dividends. Jared McCain, Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams led a backup group that took control of the game.<\/p>\n

In the third quarter, when San Antonio tried to take a stand, the franchise player took the baton. He put all the pressure, all the attention, all the weight on himself. His comfort in adversity, the first on the road in these playoffs, worked like a beacon for his teammates.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey obviously jumped on us early,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cFirst game in their building. The crowd was going to be behind them. They were going to be excited to play. We just wanted to make sure that we competed from that point on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe obviously didn\u2019t give our best effort to start the game, but you can\u2019t do nothing about it. It\u2019s behind us. So all I could do was focus on the next position, and we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Shai<\/p>\n
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\n On Friday, there were plenty of fouls mixed in with some apparent flops as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made life tough for the Spurs\u2019 defense. (Daniel Dunn \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The drama of the playoffs tends to create villains. Even players like Gilgeous-Alexander, who was once an underrated player and almost universally loved, become targets of fury. SGA is no longer an underdog. His chest of accolades brims with trophies and records. He\u2019s a basketball one-percenter and, thus, ripe for derision. He and his Thunder.<\/p>\n

But Shai\u2019s cold, on a level where genius and mischief start to blend. So much so that he\u2019ll wear the black hat as a fashion statement, with a durag underneath.<\/p>\n

Historically, the winner of Game 3 in a series tied 1-1 wins the series more than 70 percent of the time. So Friday\u2019s showdown carried, at minimum, a psychological advantage. And SGA led his Thunder into the mental warfare stage of a series \u2014 when familiarity arrives, along with tension, and urgency heightens as elimination enters the picture.<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander is so built for this. Behind that Cheshire cat grin of his lies a player who loves this part. He knew the significance of going into San Antonio and putting the Spurs on their back foot. So he did.<\/p>\n

His 12 second-half free throws did more than salvage an uninspiring night by the MVP. They became the thorn in the side of the Spurs. Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s aggression, body control and mastery of leverage had San Antonio\u2019s aggressive perimeter defenders off balance.<\/p>\n

He also kept the home team out of rhythm, unable to string together slots. And his passing, as much as his pump fakes, kept the Spurs out of position. By the time they adjusted, SGA was already a step ahead.<\/p>\n

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Stephon Castle led a train of San Antonio defenders assigned to smothering the Thunder superstar. All of them were backed up by Victor Wembanyama, whose rim protection makes even SGA hesitant in the paint. So, once again, the Spurs held the two-time MVP down to something reasonable. He entered the second half with 9 points on nine shots.<\/p>\n

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However, Gilgeous-Alexander, who once said he already has the answers and just needs the questions, didn\u2019t panic or press to find his groove. He treated the first half like reconnaissance. He cataloged tendencies and schemes, timing and emotions.<\/p>\n

On Friday, his third attempt at this particular puzzle of Spurs coach Mitch Johnson\u2019s defense, Gilgeous-Alexander leaned away from the smoothness of midrange jumpers and the beauty of step-backs. Instead, he pulled out the proverbial chessboard.<\/p>\n

Castle\u2019s aggression. Carter Bryant\u2019s youth. Wembanyama\u2019s thirst for blocks. Gilgeous-Alexander used it all, baiting the Spurs defense into leaning, chasing and committing. And if he wasn\u2019t throwing a pump fake to get a defender in the air, he was zipping a pass in a direction opposite to where he made the defense lean.<\/p>\n

SGA didn\u2019t need to embellish the contact, though on occasion he did, as Spurs players left their feet and crashed into him. In Game 3, Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s sophistication radiated. The kind earned from his obsession and refined by his championship experience. He used the threat of what the Spurs knew could happen if they didn\u2019t corral him to nestle further into the headspace of his detractors.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Spurs<\/p>\n
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\n Spurs fans troll Shai-Gilgeous Alexander with \u2018flopper\u2019 chants as officiating discourse grows\n <\/div>\n
\n After a physical first two games, Spurs fans made sure their frustrations were heard.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think probably half of them were from (us being) undisciplined,\u201d Johnson said of the Spurs\u2019 fouls. \u201cFirst off the floor. He got us out of position and took advantage of it. \u2026 I can\u2019t remember how he got all 12 free throws. But I know a few of them were pretty good defense, it felt like, up until that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s tough because he gets to spots and he makes tough shots. But you\u2019ve got to keep fighting that urge to try to do more and stay with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The evening\u2019s antagonist gave the people what they didn\u2019t want to see but couldn\u2019t deny. Savvy is genius applied practically. And what makes SGA\u2019s so effective is its precision.<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander left Game 3 knowing every reaction was predicted and every San Antonio misstep invited. The Spurs didn\u2019t get beaten as much as they were solved. It wasn\u2019t dominance in the way he\u2019s been known to impart it. But it was just as deliberate.<\/p>\n

And for those who see him as the villain, just as frustrating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Subtlety and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander don\u2019t spend much time together. He\u2019s a neon personality with an extravagant game and an unapologetic disposition. But his deconstruction of the San Antonio Spurs in Oklahoma City\u2019s 123-108 win on Friday in Game 3, seizing control of the Western Conference finals, was shrewd enough to overlook. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1951290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1951290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1951290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1951290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1951290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}