To those who doubted that such a young team could have character, the Thunder sent them a strong message last night. Twice, at the start of each half, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's teammates trailed by 14 points. Twice, the leaders of the Western Conference did not give in, and despite the clumsiness of the executives, they snatched victory and regained home advantage.
“There is nothing comfortable in the playoffs,” recalls Mark Daigneault. “Our ability to take the early punches, and not be able to get back into the game for a long time, but to resist was very important. In the fourth quarter, the offense changed things for us.”
Resisting when you have the wind in your face
For the Thunder coach, it's important to win games when you're very clumsy: 38% on shots, including 26% on 3-pointers. “That’s where trust comes in and we have an uncommon ability to stay together.” The majority of the match was not to our advantage. The ability to resist when the wind is in your face is a sign of incredible maturity. »
Like Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder never leaves its frame. No player goes out of his role, and that is the strength of this team. “We didn’t give up,” insists SGA. “We continued to work, we took matters into our own hands, possession by possession. And finally, the match turned in our favor. »
Quite the opposite of the Mavericks who failed to knock out their opponents, and ended up cracking. Like these 11 missed free throws! “We had the match in hand and we controlled it”regrets Kyrie Irving. “We just didn't manage to do enough clutch action down the stretch. We played well enough to get the win for most of the game, but we couldn't finish the job. »
