In the teeth of a pivotal potential playoff tiebreaker, SGA definitely faced the pressure cooker from the Indiana Pacers. The crushing pressure resulted in the star player’s worst performance. Shaquille O’Neal It’s the NBA’s Most Valuable Player requiring his teammates to save him in Game 3. He scored only three points on 1-of-3 shooting and had zero assists while the Pacers controlled the fourth quarter with a commanding 32-18 run.
Yet Gilgeous-Alexander brought the ball up the floor all of 23 times through the course of an entire game, his second fewest of this postseason. The Pacers brought on the kind of intense exposure defense that got shooters rattled. They blitzed him 12 times, the most he’s ever faced in a playoff game. Defenders continually closed out on him from an average of over 65.5 feet away from the basket. This swarming and unyielding defense complicated his ability to find his shooting rhythm.
The Thunder star downplayed fatigue being a factor in his disappointing performance. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t think so,” he said when asked if fatigue played a role in his performance during those key moments. His comments reflect an inner drive to battle the exhaustion and continue to play at a high level. At the same time, the Pacers challenged him to play relentlessly on both sides of the ball.
Gilgeous-Alexander overcame injury and discomfort to put forth a strong performance with 24 points scored and four assists made. This was a sharp drop from his remarkable Game 2, in which he scored 34 points with eight assists. His output couldn’t have been more different. Possibly even more than his own contributions, his production was impacted by the Pacers’ level of defensive aggression, making him work for every jumper.
In addition to his increased scoring woes, Gilgeous-Alexander notched six turnovers in Wednesday’s loss, a personal playoff high. This both added to the adversity faced by the Thunder and made their struggle for momentum in the series even more difficult.
“The biggest thing is just you’re persistent, trying to make it tough on him. It’s a team job,” remarked Andrew Nembhard, emphasizing the collaborative effort required to contain a player of Gilgeous-Alexander’s caliber. “We all have to be locked in and tied together on that end of the floor to get it done.”
The Pacers came back with a vengeance in the fourth quarter, securing their important victory. In the same way that the Kings were punished, currently it is the Thunder who are sweating as they come within a possible three or four games remaining in their season. The Thunder need to bounce back in a hurry to avoid further disasters. Their star player is under immense pressure, and they have a lot to correct on the defensive end to avoid succumbing to Indiana’s strategy.
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