Regardless of main the Western Convention standings and turning into a championship contender, MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder don’t play on Christmas Day. The affiliation will current its finest famend matches. In the course of Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder’s seven-game successful streaka reporter requested the All-NBA guard what he thought of Oklahoma Metropolis being ignored of the Christmas Day slate.
Gilgeous-Alexandre was sincere in his response.
“Disenchanted, for positive,” Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned. “I’d like to play on Christmas Day and I believe we’re a crew of that caliber. The NBA does [its] choices; you possibly can’t offend them for that. The ball is in our court docket to show to them why we need to play that day. And we have now an entire 82-game season and the playoffs to get there.
Provided that the Thunder have dominated the Western Convention, sitting in first place for many of 2024-25, it could be a shock to not see them drop one of many 5 video games scheduled for Christmas Day.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says ‘no excuses’ led to Thunder streak
Regardless of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder’s grueling journey schedule not too long agoback-to-back wins over the Orlando Magic and Miami Warmth prolonged their successful streak to seven in a row. For Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s “no excuses” mantra led to the main focus they wanted to seal two victories by a single margin after shedding the NBA Cup Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Within the probably state of affairs that Thunder suffered a “scheduled” loss, as many groups face all through the 82-game common season, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t need that for his crew and did the whole lot in his energy to keep away from it.
“We didn’t need to make an excuse,” Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned. “We, I prefer to say, have the very best jobs on the planet. It sounds loopy, however it is a bit spoiled. We performed basketball two nights in a row and obtained paid to do it. It is so loopy. Do you see what I imply? Now we have an unbelievable alternative. We’re lucky to be on this place and personally, I like taking part in basketball. So, I did not see the chance as loopy, I noticed it as one thing I may do and I like it.
Williams scored a season-high 33 factors on 12-of-25 makes an attempt, together with 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Gilgeous-Alexander added 25 factors, seven rebounds and 4 assists. The Thunder will look to increase their successful streak to eight after they host the Wizards on Monday.
