The Western Conference saw some of the best star-studded lineups, making it a competitive division. Amidst all the strong teams, it was the Oklahoma City Thunder, who came on top, with a top-notch regular season. This guaranteed OKC’s seat in the NBA Playoffs.
But their regular season was perhaps a mere trailer to what the team had to offer. Particularly, they had one player in their roster, who was a centerpiece in their campaign. It is none other than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The 6’6 ft Canadian supercharged Oklahoma with his performance, that saw them dominate in the Playoffs. His ability to perform when it mattered the most has now ensured a ticket for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, where they will lock horns with a formidable Indiana Pacers, starting from Thursday, June 5. Here’s how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals.
Career-Best Figures in Regular Season
One man, who was behind this dominant march of Thunder in the regular season was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who recorded a career-best regular season. The Canadian averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 76 games that he played this season, according to StatMuse. As per ESPN, he shot 51.9% in field goal and 89.8% from the free-throw line. He became the only player after the legendary Michael Jordan to average 32.0 points and 6.0 assists per game, along with shooting 50.0% or better from the field in a season, as per an NBA official release.
Oklahoma’s journey to the Finals started on a cruising note in the regular season. In a division full of rosters with megastars in them, it was not enough to intimidate Oklahoma. On the contrary, it was the OKC who dominated in the regular season, where the point table speaks for them. Out of the 82 games they played, Oklahoma secured 68 victories and lost just 14 times.
This feat becomes even better when you realise that the teams placed between second to eighth on the table have faced 30-34 defeats. This means that the OKC only conceded less than half of the number of defeats that the second ranked team (Houston Rockets) had. It was not just the best regular season in franchise history, but a record-breaking one.
MVP Winning Performance
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the OKC in a historic season, that smashed the NBA record for scoring differential in a season. They outscored teams by 12.9 points per game, breaking the record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers squad.
Unsurprisingly, this team performance, powered by Shai’s heroics helped the OKC to finish on top of the table in the Western Conference by miles. The Canadian got his due credit awarded, after he was bestowed with the 2024-25 NBA MVP (Most Valuable Player) award. It was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s maiden NBA MVP title. He became the third player from OKC after Kevin Durant in 2014 and Russell Westbrook in 2017.
NBA Finals: SGA in Playoffs for Oklahoma City Thunder
With a record breaking regular season, the pressure mounted higher for both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. But the Canadian did not let the playoffs pressure get the better of him. On the contrary, he used it to refuel himself, clocking one performance after the other.
It started with the Memphis Grizzlies. SGA averaged 27.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in four games, according to Stathead. This performance was just a repeat display of his form in the regular season, coming at a vital time for OKC. His game was crucial in setting a positive tone for the Thunder’s Playoffs run, as they made a clean sweep of 4-0 by the end of Game 4 against the Grizzlies.
But the next fixture was a daunting challenge for both Shai and Oklahoma. In the semi-finals, they locked horns with the Denver Nuggets, featuring three-time MVP winner Nikola Jokić. This was remotely not a smooth passage for the Thunder this time, as the Nuggets gave quite the challenge. But this could not stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 30.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and assists till the series deciding Game 7.
How SGA Led Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals
At last, SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder found their final hurdle in the Minnesota Timberwolves. But even a team, known for their solid defense and consisting of talents like Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns could not stop Shai in doing the damages.
The Canadian brought out his A-game in the Conference Finals, averaging 31.4 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds till Game 5. It played a vital role in OKC’s conference winning campaign, where they won 4-1 to confirm their ticket to the NBA Finals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are finally back in the NBA Finals after a long break, last featuring in 2012. They got an in-form Indiana Pacers, who will leave no stones unturned to give them a quite the challenge to get their hands on the trophy.
But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is currently at the peak of his career, and he would be looking forward to maintain his MVP-winning momentum to help the Oklahoma City Thunder end their trophy drought and bring the trophy back home.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals takes place on June 5 at the Paycom Center, providing a vital home advantage for the first two games for Shai and the OKC. The referees are John Goble, Marc Davis and David Guthrie.
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