By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 20:50 EDT, 18 May 2025 | Updated: 20:50 EDT, 18 May 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The normally stoic Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was caught smiling on camera after a Game 3 loss at Denver that put Oklahoma City down 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals.
Oklahoma City's MVP award finalist spent the rest of the series showing what he was grinning about. He averaged 30.8 points on 55.8% shooting over the next four games, and the Thunder won three of those to advance to the conference finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander said the smile was a response to fans who were razzing him.
"It´s easy to taunt when you´re up," Gilgeous-Alexander said after Game 3. "I don´t ever want to show them that I´m defeated or mad or anything like that. Nothing´s written. The series is not over, and we have a lot to be optimistic about."
He backed up that claim by scoring 25 points in a Game 4 win, 31 in a Game 5 victory, 32 in a Game 6 loss and 35 in a 125-93 blowout in Game 7 on Sunday.
The Thunder will host the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday.
Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Jalen Williams, right, celebrate as fans cheer late in the second half of Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Denver Nuggets, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City´s MVP finalist is getting more comfortable expressing himself. For years, the Canadian star has worked to remain even-keeled, yet he acknowledged he was on edge heading into Game 7. He wanted the Thunder's league-best 68-win regular-season to mean something. Oklahoma City had lost in the conference semifinals last season after earning the No. 1 seed in the West. And he had another MVP finalist in Nikola Jokic to deal with.
Instead of ignoring or downplaying his feelings, Gilgeous-Alexander embraced them.
"I was nervous, to be honest, just knowing what´s on the line," he said. "We worked so hard the whole 82-game season. We´ve all worked so hard in the summer to know if you don´t bring your A-game, it can all be over with, all for nothing. But I think that nervousness, like, motivated me and helped me play today."
The Thunder showed some nerves early in Game 7, but they took over in the second quarter.
"Once I felt the flow of the game and we had the right intentions and the right energy, I knew it would turn around for us," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
When he was subbed out for good with the Thunder leading 114-76 and 7:40 remaining, he raised his arms to exhort the crowd, then pointed to the small-market franchise's devoted fans in a rare celebratory moment.
"No team in the league has a home-court advantage like we do," he said. "And that´s all due to them with the T-shirts, the cheering, the screaming, the chants. They really give us energy out there. And we´ve been a better team because of them, having them behind us. To know that if we didn´t bring it tonight, it could be over for them as well wasn´t fair. We wanted to play for them as well."
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Denver Nuggets' Russell Westbrook, right, talks with Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, after Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrates after the team's win against the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) leaps to the basket to dunk as Denver Nuggets' Christian Braun (0) defends in the second half of Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)