Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned in another brilliant individual display but hailed the collective effort that went into the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 5 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Having been outplayed for three quarters, the Thunder stormed back in the fourth to win 112-105 and move 3-2 ahead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 31 points, inspiring their late surge, but was eager to point out it was a team effort that got them over the line.
“We had no choice. The game obviously wasn’t going our way. But we always say the answer is never a hero play or anything out of the ordinary,” he said. “It’s being who we are. It’s trusting each other playing with all five on both ends. Whatever the problem is, we can fix it with the collective effort.”
GOODNIGHT 😴 pic.twitter.com/Y0CjcNHOOp
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 14, 2025
Daigneault hails brilliant SGA
Gilgeous-Alexander was not eager to talk up his individual display, but Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was happy to do it for him.
“I thought he got more and more composed as the game went on,” Daigneault said.
“Despite the fact that the pressure was mounting and it got hotter in there, he got cooler and just settled into it, made the right plays and let the game tell him what to do. He was humble.”
The Nuggets wasted a virtuoso performance from Nikola Jokic, who bounced back from a period of poor form with 44 points.
“Nikola played incredible,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said.
“I thought our effort was incredible, but we can play a lot better. I think it’s in these guys that if we create the open shots we created tonight, we’re going to have games where guys make shots behind it.
“If we can complement 17-of-25, 44 points with some other guys finding a rhythm out there, we’re very capable of doing special things. And that includes Thursday [in Game 6], and that includes the weekend if we can get back here.”
