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The San Antonio Spurs have stumped Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning back-to-back NBA MVP, in the Western Conference Finals.
The Thunder are the reigning champions and looked primed to become the NBA’s first repeat champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. They swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers with ease in their first two playoff rounds. Then, they ran into Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
The Spurs and Thunder have traded blowouts in the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs won an epic Game 1 in double overtime. The Thunder won Game 2, 122-113. Since then, four games have been decided by double-digit margins of victory.
Most recently, the Spurs won Thursday’s Game 6 by 27 points, forcing a Game 7 on Saturday. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points on 33.3% shooting from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point land, in 28 minutes.
After the Thunder’s Game 6 loss, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked to diagnose his uncharacteristic shooting struggles in this series at his postgame presser.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder walks across the court prior to Game Five of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center on May 26, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“I’m not too sure, to be honest,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “A lot of the shots that I’m shooting, I’ve shot plenty of times before, and they feel good. They’re just not going in. But, yeah, it’s too late to abandon my work and abandon my game and who I am this late in the season. I gotta trust it and live or die by it.”
Against the Spurs, Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 37.9% from the field and 26.1% from three and averaging 24.3 points per game. In the regular season, he averaged 33.1 points per game on 55.3% shooting from the field.
It doesn’t help that Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf strain) have missed chunks of this series, leaving Gilgeous-Alexander as the Thunder’s only offensive generator. But the drop off has been too dramatic to explain away that easily.
if SGA goes off for 30-plus points to win Game 7 and reach the NBA Finals for a second straight year, that quote will be admired in Thunder lore for years to come. But if he continues to struggle against the Spurs’ defense, he’ll have bigger questions to answer about his questionable foul-baiting and all the rest.
Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals will take place at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center and air on NBC, beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
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The Thunder are the reigning champions and looked primed to become the NBA’s first repeat champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. They swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers with ease in their first two playoff rounds. Then, they ran into Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
The Spurs and Thunder have traded blowouts in the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs won an epic Game 1 in double overtime. The Thunder won Game 2, 122-113. Since then, four games have been decided by double-digit margins of victory.
Most recently, the Spurs won Thursday’s Game 6 by 27 points, forcing a Game 7 on Saturday. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points on 33.3% shooting from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point land, in 28 minutes.
After the Thunder’s Game 6 loss, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked to diagnose his uncharacteristic shooting struggles in this series at his postgame presser.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder walks across the court prior to Game Five of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center on May 26, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“I’m not too sure, to be honest,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “A lot of the shots that I’m shooting, I’ve shot plenty of times before, and they feel good. They’re just not going in. But, yeah, it’s too late to abandon my work and abandon my game and who I am this late in the season. I gotta trust it and live or die by it.”
Against the Spurs, Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 37.9% from the field and 26.1% from three and averaging 24.3 points per game. In the regular season, he averaged 33.1 points per game on 55.3% shooting from the field.
It doesn’t help that Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf strain) have missed chunks of this series, leaving Gilgeous-Alexander as the Thunder’s only offensive generator. But the drop off has been too dramatic to explain away that easily.
if SGA goes off for 30-plus points to win Game 7 and reach the NBA Finals for a second straight year, that quote will be admired in Thunder lore for years to come. But if he continues to struggle against the Spurs’ defense, he’ll have bigger questions to answer about his questionable foul-baiting and all the rest.
Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals will take place at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center and air on NBC, beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
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