Latest / Bleacher Report / Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Talks OKC s Game 1 Win vs. Timberwolves _ 2025 NBA Playoffs

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Talks OKC s Game 1 Win vs. Timberwolves _ 2025 NBA Playoffs · Bleacher Report

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Shaye, what'd you feel about that third quarter in the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: way that you all came out, of course defensively still
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: with that same edge, but offensively able to find your spots.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: You and.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we we haven't had the greatest of third quarters
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: this playoff run so far. We want to make that emphasis,
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: like come out of halftime with a punch, with a
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: little a jolt, with some energy and not ease into it.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: We'd be better off towards the end of the game.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: We Yeah, we just made that emphasis and we didn't like,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: we didn't panic obviously in the struggles with the struggles
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: in the first half, we missed a bunch of layups
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: as a group, we miss free throws like the easy ones,
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: and we knew that we stuck with it, they would
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: have eventually fall, and they did.
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: Shall you you've played a handful of series now as
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: a first option. What have you sort of learned about
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: how to process a game from from quarter to quarter,
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: how you value each quarter up until maybe the point
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: it's time for you to close a game.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's always a chess match out there.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: Like you go out there, you have a base coverage,
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: you have something that you want to start with then
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: you see how the game goes, and then you just
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: read and react and adjust from there. They make a move,
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: you make a move like it's back and forth, and
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: it's going to be like that throughout the series. They're
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: a really good team though, make adjustments, they'll get better,
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: for sure.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: We have to continue to get better.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: As well as far as the back and forth, it
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: seemed like early you were trying to set that line
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: of like what sort of physicality could go, what couldn't
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: in the shot you would take with that, what sort
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: of change from half to half? As far as the
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: cause you felt like you gotten what you wanted to shoot.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I don't. I don't know. I don't know.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: I'm not too sure what you mean by that. I
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: was just out there being aggressive, trying to get to
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: my spots. Obviously it wasn't falling like I it usually
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: does and like I would like it to. It's part
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: of the game. I didn't nothing really change my mindset.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: I just try to continue to be aggressive, con to
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: trust my work and worked out for me in a
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: second half.
• 2:09
  Speaker 5: Yes, sha Mark talked about Mark was just in here
• 2:13
  Speaker 5: talking about how a guy like Kendrick who didn't play
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: in last series, coming in breeze life into the team
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: and not just him Isaiah Joe. First off, do you
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: agree with that assessment? And then what does that do
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: for you guys on a night like we're your shots
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: aren't falling?
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, Every series is different and every game in every
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: series is different, different matchups, you need different things for
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: different opponents. So like, our readiness as a group has
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: been special and we're gonna need it the further we go.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: But those two guys were nothing short of who they've
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: been all year. Like they guys who play one night,
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: not play the next night, play thirty minutes a night
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: after that, Like they are always ready. They know they
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: to the team, and they go out there and do
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: it at a high level. And then that's why they
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: were ready for their moment tonight. But yeah, we don't
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: win this game without those two guys, and hats off
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: to those two guys. And those two guys are who
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: they've been all year, and that's that's tough to do
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: through the ups and downs and the emotions of like
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: playing and not playing. So it hats off to them too,
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: for sure.
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Shay Mark was talking about how he thought it
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: took you guys a little time to calibrate, recalibrate with
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: a different style of opponent. Did you feel that at
• 3:27
  Speaker 6: all during the game that you have to remind yourself, oh,
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: this this isn't didn't for anymore.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: It felt different from jump more like pressure oriented. It
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: feels like a little more physical. But at the end
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: of the night, it's basketball. They throw you a problem
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: and you have to solve it whatever it looks like,
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: and that's what it is every night, and that's that's
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: what it was tonight. They had different coverages, different personnel
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: out there, and we have to attack it and and
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: work together as a unit to solve the problems out there,
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: and we did that tonight's in the.
• 4:00
  Speaker 7: Second half, Andre select with the athletic sha is kind
• 4:05
  Speaker 7: of a follow up to that question. Specifically, what are
• 4:07
  Speaker 7: to feel like going from playing seven games of a
• 4:09
  Speaker 7: lot of zone defense, you know, playing against man defense
• 4:13
  Speaker 7: in this game?
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it uh, you like usually in the NBA you
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: see man and we're comfortable playing man and the zone
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: was a wrinkle, but it ultimately made us better for sure,
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: and we can feel that by the end of the
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: series we were attacking it way better. We knew what
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: we were getting to and the possession that they threw out,
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: they threw zone out there, we got a dunk like
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: right away, Like you could just feel us getting better
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: at it. And that's what that's what it's all about.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: That's what the first game of the season is about.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: That's what the first game in the playoffs is about.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: That's what the last game in the playoffs is about.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: Like just continuing to get better through the experiences and
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: you'll look up and be where you want to be.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: And that's all we can control. Like, can't control what
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: they taught us. We can just control how we attack
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: it and how we approach it. And that's what we did.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: That's what we did last series, and this series look
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: different and we'll do this. Shay, you mentioned that this
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: team didn't panic.
• 5:03
  Speaker 8: You've been a leader of this team for a while now,
• 5:04
  Speaker 8: but how would you describe what that process has been
• 5:06
  Speaker 8: like of leading by example?
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just true to my personality.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: Not always the loudest guy in the room or say
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: too much, but my energy and effort and what I
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: put on the floor speaks louder than anything. That's just
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: how I try to not only let go about the
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: game but go about life like actions always mean louder
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: than words to me, especially, So that's just how I
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: go about.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: It, Shade.
• 5:31
  Speaker 9: The defense kept you guys in the game early on
• 5:34
  Speaker 9: before your offense could really find a hold with the
• 5:37
  Speaker 9: way you guys were forcing turnovers. Do you think there's
• 5:39
  Speaker 9: some correlation between them launching as many threes because maybe
• 5:43
  Speaker 9: they didn't feel like they could bring it into the
• 5:45
  Speaker 9: tee for the defense and that kind of the strategy
• 5:47
  Speaker 9: you guys had was forcing them to kind of do
• 5:49
  Speaker 9: things out of character.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I have no clue what they were thinking. I
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: don't know how to answer that one.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: We just we try to play to our identity on
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: both ends of the floor and then just read and
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: react from there.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: I don't, I don't know, I can't. I can't answer
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: that one for.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: You, But yeah, we try to play to our identity
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: defense and then we did a good job of that,
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: and the defense definitely gave us, gave us life early
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: in the game and kept us in it for sure.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Shay Game seven, case In sets a career high in
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: the playoffs for assists. Tonight he's got seven, a new
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: career high and assists off the bench. What are you
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: seeing from him as a playmaker for you guys, and
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: you know, being able to facilitate for others.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, case So played point guard in high school and college.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: You guys like you might forget that this is his
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: role in the NBA. But he's a really good basketball player.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: He knows how to play, he knows how to read
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: the game, and we're seeing him grow as the games
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: go on and that'll continue for his whole career.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: He's he's a guy that soaks.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: Things up quickly, has a great feel out there on
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: both ends of the floor, and the sky's the limit
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: for case So.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: I've said that before. He's he's a really good player. Guy.
• 6:52
  Speaker 10: You guys didn't play the two bigs together as much
• 6:55
  Speaker 10: as you usually do, went small affair amountains, still held them.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: To twenty points in the paint.
• 7:00
  Speaker 8: How are we able to keep them from doing any
• 7:02
  Speaker 8: kind of real damage in the paint?
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: We well chat Holmgod first and foremost, really good rent
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: protector Hartenstein as well. But we Something that coach has
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: done all year is like just mix up lineups throughout
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: the season, and I think it's it has us ready
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: and prepared for moments like like tonight where the matchups
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: are different than they were the past seven games and
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: we're gonna need a different lineup to adjust. And for us,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: it was seamless because we've done it all year and
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: that's something that he preaches, like he doesn't want us
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: to get two set in stone in the lineup because
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: of cousin Knights like tonight and matches matchups like we've
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: seen recently, and I think that's just part of our DNA.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 7:44
  Speaker 8: Oh yeah, Shay, Anthony Edwards shot I think like five
• 7:49
  Speaker 8: or twelve through three quarters. You only shot thirteen times tonight,
• 7:53
  Speaker 8: all one in the fourth quarter, did not score from
• 7:56
  Speaker 8: your perspective, was it just like him just not being
• 8:00
  Speaker 8: as aggressive in the fourth or was it something that
• 8:03
  Speaker 8: you guys were like intentionally doing to stop him.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: I'm not I don't know. I'm not too sure. Good
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: player though, he'll play better than he played tonight. Like
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: it's a long series. We just got to be ready
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: for whatever.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: Shay, you guys took twenty one threes tonight.
• 8:24
  Speaker 7: There's a few as you've taken all season by six.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: What are some of the things that led to that?
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: H Just us playing basketball. I don't think we ever
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: focus on what type of shots. As long as they're
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: good ones, we try to let them rip. And I
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: guess the threes that we had less good threes tonight,
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: But I don't know how to answer the question. We
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: just go out there and play, play to our strengths
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: and whatever the night looks like.
• 8:50
  Speaker 10: It looks like how big did you think Chat was
• 8:54
  Speaker 10: to open that fourth quarter? And then what is kind
• 8:56
  Speaker 10: of your bigger picture of you on on his season
• 8:58
  Speaker 10: and how he's kind of had to I guess, you know,
• 9:00
  Speaker 10: reintegrate back to a moving ship.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was great.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: When he's his best version of himself, where the we're
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: the best version of ourselves as a unit. It's no
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: surprise he affects the game at such a high level,
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: like from the moment he was on this basketball team.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: Hm our win column went up, and it's no surprise,
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: like he affects the game every night, every possession at
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: the extremely high level. And I think it's gone under
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: the raidar a little bit. How hard it is to
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: like be a guy and then sit out for a
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: couple of months and have to integrate yourself into a
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: team that has the best record in the NBA and
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: not step on nobody's toes, but also still be yourself.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: It's like that's a super hard position to be in,
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: and the way he's handled that has been special, And uh,
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: I don't know if he gets enough credit for that.
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: He he's he's a special person and a special talent
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: and he's just he's the reason why we are what
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: we are today.