Shai Gilgeous-Alexander admitted “the nerves were natural” on Sunday when the Oklahoma City Thunder of the best part of Oklahoma fought offensively to begin game 7 of his semifinal of the West Conference against Denver.
Jettioning those nervous depended on the OKC call card, high pressure and high pressure defense personified in veteran Alex Caruso.
What the reserve guard of 6 feet and 5 feet lacks brand consciousness that compensates for experience, an attribute that greatly eluded Thunder last season.
Acquire Caruso de Chicago in a low season exchange may not have made waves at that time, but Caruso has certainly spread to the city where his professional career began. Now, the old OKC Blue G-Leguer is prepared to help the young thunder core to take the next step while receiving the Minnesota Timberwolves to start the West finals on Tuesday night.
Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander may seem elegant in a certain omnipresent commercial of AT&T, but they are not avers to follow the measured lead but from the face on the floor.
“I only try to be where our feet are at the time, see what is in front of us and try to attack him,” said Gilgous-Alexander. “Come at the end.”
Oklahoma City limited Denver to 39.3 percent of shooting on Sunday, including an effort of 22.7 percent from the long reach and the route to a 125-93 victory. Caruso showed the way in its frequent medium court defensive allocation. It produced six inches and a large majority of the NBA Nikola Jokic MVP, but little else, the limit of the most animated at 20 points. Almost half of those nine cameras in the free throw line.
“For me,” said Caruso, “it’s about competition … Being relentless with my energy, the effort to make it difficult for him, and obviously the boys around me did a good job in helping and spraying that, because it is proper.”
From what Caruso can take credit, thinking that it probably not, it is a contagious tenacity that has helped the Thunders keep opponents less than 100 points four times in 11 postseason games.
A western semifinalist last season after a defeat in the play against Minnesota in 2023, the Thunder began operating in its first playoff match on April 20, as Caruso’s assistant an effort that restricted Memphis to 34.4 percent to 17.6 percent from.
“I’m lucky to play with the Hall of Fame, have been trained by the Hall of Fame, the elite elite,” said Caruso. “I am only stealing things from the legs of other people and, love, and I am working on it, and now I am trying to transmit it to the rest of the boys.
“I think they did a good job of that. Our level of communication, our sense of urgency, our ability to dissect and move forward is much better than it was, I think, when I came here for the first time. And that is key: using that pluffing I have others and also raise myself.”
OKC needs to continue raising its level against a team of the wolves that advanced to the west finals last season. Anthony Edwards makes Minnesota and averaged 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists in the playoffs, comparable to 29.0, 5.9 and 6.4 of Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Certainly, the experience of last year helps a lot, and that’s what this really is about: establishing those experiences on top of each other so they can get out of them over and over again and gain confidence,” said Minnesota coach Chris Finch.
The list of wolves is not a total duplicate of last season or the course. The great Karl-Anthony Towns man was changed to East New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte Divinnzo.
It is a will to Caruso that the small striker or the escort can defend with equal poise.
Whatever the challenge in front of them, thunder seems to be ready to attack Caruso-Agresive but conscious.
“I think that’s why we have such far Gothic in the season,” Gilgous-Alexander said, “and we will make it continuous to do it.”
