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Similarily to a year ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder entered the second round without any concerns. It took care of the New Orleans Pelicans in four games, and this time around, it eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies in the same amount of time. But, often as some history seems to be repeating, the second round brought concerns rather quickly.
Oklahoma City is only down 2-1 to the Denver Nuggets after a 113-104 loss in Game 3 Friday night — tough that's still a reason to be skeptical of how the rest of the series will play out. Game 2 brought more of an accurate representation of what the Thunder were in the regular season, but are Games 1 and 3 more accurate for the playoffs? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has largely underwhelmed in his offensive production — a trend that continued last night. The guard only put up 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on 7-of-22 shooting from the field, which didn't stack up nearly enough to expectations in a pivotal road matchup.
As a potential MVP winner and leader for Oklahoma City, Gilgeous-Alexander has to be better moving forward — plain and simple. A large void was left in the offense, and total team offense of two points in overtime can't happen in a playoff setting. A bright spot came in the form of Jalen Williams, who finally figured out the struggles he had dealt with in recent games.
The forward finished the night with 32 points and five assists on 11-of-21 shooting from the field, leading the way by a wide-margin. The Thunder has been in need of Williams to step up, but it needs Chet Holmgren there, too. The center put up a strong stat line of 18 points and 16 rebounds, but 7-of-19 shooting isn't effective offensive production.
Oklahoma City shot a rough 9-of-35 clip from behind the arc — paling in comparison to the Nuggets' 16-of-40 shooting. The Thunder has prided itself on defense, but if it can't play to its standards there nor on the offensive end, it'll have a tough time getting back momentum in this series. If Game 4 is yet another lose for Oklahoma City, there's a certain risk of elimination before the Western Conference Finals.
It's still early in the series — but its safe to say the Thunder is in must-win territory..
