MEMPHIS, TN — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander answered questions this week that he often hadn’t all season.
About his comfortability. His shotmaking. What he saw that viewers didn’t. Any and everything that could hope to explain a three-game stretch that, in terms of efficiency, didn’t appear to match the MVP finalist’s standards.
In the dwindling seconds of Saturday’s Game 4, with a sweep on the line, he ripped those questions from the tips of every naysaying tongue, sinking a midrange silencer just shy of the 3-point line that left Kevin Garnett smiling somewhere. A 23-foot, six-inch reminder of who he is.
By his hand, the Thunder swept the first round of the NBA Playoffs for a second consecutive season, deflecting Desmond Bane’s intentionally-missed free throw in the final second of a 117-115 Game 4 win to bat away Memphis’ chances at a Game 5. Gilgeous-Alexander played into all his MVP, game-closing, midrange-loving ways.
That included the dagger, which gave the Thunder a five-point lead with 11.6 seconds remaining. And a stepback 3 deep into the fourth quarter to give OKC a double-digit lead — one it quickly squandered to a feisty Grizzlies team sans Ja Morant — a shot that hadn’t always been kind to Gilgeous-Alexander through four games. Both punctuated a 38-point performance on 13-of-24 shooting, complete with five boards and six assists.
The shot that sealed the deal 🤝 pic.twitter.com/s62QGTXo6D
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 26, 2025
The Thunder, blood thirsty and seemingly equipped with eight hands per player, bought Gilgeous-Alexander some time in the series to return to the efficiency that’s become standard.
It forced 22 Memphis turnovers, turning that into 32 points.
Oklahoma City shot 7 for 35 from deep (20%) Saturday, hardly a recipe for a series-closing win. At least for a team less obsessive than the Thunder.
Among the side effects of Morant’s absence were the increased on-ball duties all around for the Grizzlies. Scotty Pippen Jr. handled those responsibilities even better than he had in a mostly impressive series, posting 30 points on 9-of-21 shooting with 10 free throws in Game 4.
Memphis guard Vince Williams Jr. played 19 minutes in a 51-point Thunder win in Game 1, mostly with the Thunder ahead an insurmountable amount, followed by a DNP in Game 2. In Game 3, he played just 27 seconds.
On Saturday, he played 18 rotational minutes, and seemed unpleasantly surprised to experience what his backcourt mates had for a series. With Cason Wallace chasing him, Williams’ handle appeared as if his thumbs were stuck in a Chinese finger trap.
In the four-game series, the Thunder scored 103 points off turnovers.
Bane, a spot-up shooter better suited for movement than creation, needed more dribbles. Jaren Jackson Jr. forced offense from the post, often met by Alex Caruso on his back and Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein looking over his shoulder.
Jackson, Pippen and Bane each coughed up five turnovers a piece.
All-Star Jalen Williams finished with 23 points, his disruption adding to Jackson’s dystopia. Hartenstein had a team-high four steals, not typically among OKC’s leaders in that department but as frustrating as anyone.
Five Thunder players finished with at least two steals.
The Thunder closed with 94 shot attempts, 14 more than the Grizzlies, even after a late Memphis possession that saw it grab a handful of offensive rebounds.
More opportunities with the ball meant more chances for Gilgeous-Alexander to probe his way to his kill spots, dancing to find his rhythm again.
He started the night with an immaculate first quarter, 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting. After just a single shot attempt in the second quarter, he posted 19 more points in the second half, connecting on looks he’d yearned to hit for a series.
The elbow jumpers he holds so near and dear to his heart. The incredible high-glass finishes that fit his crafty ways.
Holmgren (11 points, four blocks) wondered about the questions he received about Gilgeous-Alexander on Saturday. He saw his point guard swiftly weave between defenders for four games. Holmgren watched him rise up over double teams for a signature jumper that’d been unbeatable for the better part of 82 games. He saw the ingredients of the MVP finalist he’d known, just without as many makes.
Holmgren’s tone bordered on dismissive when asked about the progression of SGA’s series.
“I don’t know where this ‘ups and downs’ thing is coming from,” Holmgren said. “I thought he played a hell of a series. I felt like he was out there making the right reads.
“It’s an imperfect game. Shai’s never gonna go 25 for 25 in a game — I hope he does, but probably not. He was making the right plays all series, trusting people. That’s been really helpful, not only for myself, but for (Williams), everybody down the list. I don’t see that changing.
“When that ball is going in at a high clip, you guys are going to be up here asking me how special he was that night.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, in his second playoff run as the Thunder’s franchise player, claims he learned nothing about himself in the series.
“I’m impressed with my (ability) to stay with it,” he said. “In the past, I for sure would’ve turned down the aggressiveness a little bit. I made a jump as far as that this year. That’s something I’m definitely proud of.
“In the past, I would’ve shied away from the moment because of where my shooting was headed.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is a present player. This moment, begging for his best game yet, was his.
Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @joelxlorenzi. Support Joel’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder sweep Grizzlies in NBA Playoffs