"I have to play better": Shai Gilgeous-Alexander takes all blame in Thunder's loss to Spurs
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"I have to play better": Shai Gilgeous-Alexander takes all blame in Thunder's loss to Spurs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially lost their first game in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. After steamrolling their way into the Western Conference Finals, the San Antonio Spurs made it known that a second Larry O'Brien was not their birthright. A lot of lapses happened throughout Game 1 which snowballed into the 122-115 loss, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander opted to take all the blame.
Gilgeous-Alexander takes all blame in Thunder's Game 1 loss to Spurs
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was supposed to be the night of praises for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Commissioner Adam Silver presented the Thunder star with his second NBA MVP trophy in front of their home crowd. A win would have just been a great cherry on top. But, it did not end well for the superstar.
Gilgeous-Alexander was clearly disappointed in the outcome of Game 1 despite having to toil until double overtime. He outlined that the Thunder have to be better against the Spurs and it was his responsibility to start the change, via SportsCenter.
"We knew it was going to be a dog fight. We just got to be better, me in particular. I had to play better especially against a team of this caliber. Nothing more than that. Exactly what I expected, they played really fast. I just got to be better out there," the Thunder superstar said.
Despite being on the court for 51 minutes in Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander did not look like his NBA MVP self against the Spurs defense. He went seven of 23 from the field and 28.6% from three-point range. The Thunder superstar was still able to notch 24 points but a hefty bulk of that was because he made eight of his nine attempts from the free throw line.
Gilgeous-Alexander was still running the Thunder offense despite Alex Caruso rising to become their lead scorer with 31 points off the bench. The Thunder's NBA MVP dropped 12 assists to keep his teammates involved. Defensively, he was also able to snatch five steals, grab three rebounds. It was just his inefficiency and often questionable shot diet that needs improvement against the Spurs along with fixing those four turnovers he committed.
There is still a lot of room for Gilgeous-Alexander to grow. Can he speed up his learnings and execution to get Game 2 for the Thunder?