Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander compares Spurs to Nuggets, Pacers series from title run

The Oklahoma City Thunder, on Thursday night, failed to close out the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals. A scoring drought in the third quarter doomed the Thunder, as they could not keep up against the Spurs on the road en route to a 118-91 defeat to even up the series at 3-3.

For all the hype around this Thunder team for their historic defensive excellence and incredible depth, they have looked beatable on multiple occasions these past two years in the playoffs. And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knows this. But there’s no panic in the reigning back-to-back MVP’s mind, as he likened his and OKC’s experience in facing the Spurs this year to coming up against the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers — two teams that pushed them to Game 7 — in last year’s postseason.

“They’re up there for sure. Indiana and Denver were pretty tough. Taking us to Game 7 probably the common denominator with those groups. But they’re a very tough team, really good team,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in his postgame presser, via Oh No He Didn’t on X (formerly Twitter).

Shai on if the Spurs are the toughest opponent they've had:

"They're up there for sure. Indiana and Denver were pretty tough. Taking us to game 7 probably the common denominator with those groups. But they're a very tough team, really good team" pic.twitter.com/JgZcx3qkgd

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) May 29, 2026

Gilgeous-Alexander, for what it’s worth, did not struggle against those teams the way he has to this point of the WCF against the Spurs. He’s shooting just 37.9 percent from the field in the WCF, as despite his huge scoring nights, he’s had to weather rough performances from the field to get those numbers.

The Spurs have an army of long-limbed defenders to make life difficult for him, and the Los Angeles Lakers sort of provided the blueprint on how to contain Gilgeous-Alexander’s individual brilliance. It has not helped whatsoever that, unlike last season, SGA does not have a healthy Jalen Williams to help him navigate this pesky Spurs defense.

In Game 7, the Thunder should be slightly favored, if only because they’re playing at home. Gilgeous-Alexander is a big-game player, so expect him to be at his best as he tries to will OKC back into the NBA Finals.

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