OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The defending NBA champions saw their title defense come to a close as the San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in a decisive Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder guard who has claimed back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player awards, delivered an outstanding performance in the elimination game with 35 points. However, San Antonio proved to be the superior team on this night, preventing Oklahoma City from advancing to defend their championship.
Despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s exceptional display of scoring ability — including mid-range shots, drives to the basket, and step-back jumpers against San Antonio’s towering 7-foot-4 defender Victor Wembanyama — the Thunder couldn’t secure the victory. The star player offered no alibis for the defeat.
“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.”
Oklahoma City had worked throughout the regular season to secure home-court advantage for this crucial seventh game, finishing with 64 wins compared to San Antonio’s 62. However, the Spurs had dominated the season series with four victories in five meetings during the regular season, then captured four wins in seven playoff games. The Thunder also faced adversity with injuries sidelining Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell during the series.
“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.”
Both franchises appear positioned for sustained success in coming seasons, suggesting the foundation for a lasting competitive rivalry has been established.
“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 organization faces upcoming personnel choices and possesses several first-round draft selections that could be utilized to acquire talent or potentially packaged in trades to move up in the draft for a targeted prospect.
While those organizational decisions fall outside Gilgeous-Alexander’s responsibilities, Canada is hoping he will participate in World Cup qualifying competition this summer — with basketball’s next World Cup scheduled for 2027 — as he continues working to enhance his skills like all elite athletes.
“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.”
