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05/30 23:35 CDT Gilgeous-Alexander tips his cap after Thunder fall to Spurs in
Game 7 to end their title reign
Gilgeous-Alexander tips his cap after Thunder fall to Spurs in Game 7 to end
their title reign
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) --- When the season ended, and when his team's reign as NBA
champions ended along with it, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tipped his cap.
The Oklahoma City guard --- the back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player --- was
great in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. The San Antonio Spurs were
greater. And that meant there won't be a repeat champion in the NBA this year.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and was his normal brilliant self with an
array of mid-range scores, paint attacks, even stepbacks over San Antonio's
7-foot-4 wall named Victor Wembanyama. It wasn't enough and Gilgeous-Alexander
made no excuses.
"So many things go into it," Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked about the
difficulty of winning a championship --- and trying to go back-to-back.
"Sometimes it's like things you can't control, sometimes it's things you can
control. Yeah, it's a hard task to do one time, so to do it twice will only
make it even more challenging."
The Thunder played all season to have home-court advantage in Game 7 and got it
by two games, winning 64 to San Antonio's 62. But the Spurs beat the Thunder
four out of five in the regular season, then got four more out of seven in the
West finals. And Oklahoma City, to be fair, was not at its best --- with Jalen
Williams and Ajay Mitchell out with injuries.
"Not to make any excuses, but they're a really good team over there,"
Gilgeous-Alexander said. "And losing Ajay and Dub the way we did in the midst
of a series, you would think it would be a lot harder for us."
Oklahoma City looks like a team that is built to contend for years. So, too, do
the Spurs. A rivalry seems very much born.
"Yeah, they're young, they're talented, well-coached," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"Play the right way, play together, seems like they like each other. They have
the makeup, for sure. You don't beat us without the makeup and they beat us.
They have the makeup to go get one."
The Thunder will have some roster decisions to make and have multiple
first-round picks to either use to add talent --- or perhaps combine in a trade
if they want to move up for a chance to draft a specific person.
Those decisions aren't for Gilgeous-Alexander to make. Canada is hoping he'll
play a little bit of World Cup qualifying this summer --- basketball's next
World Cup is in 2027 --- and he'll be looking to add to his game, as elite
players always do.
"We just have to take it one day at a time from here on out,"
Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Try to get better this summer, be a better team than
we were this season --- and try to get back over the hump."
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
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