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Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks silence on heated Dillon Brooks exchange
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- Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks silence on heated Dillon Brooks exchange
Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks silence on heated Dillon Brooks exchange appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander addressed his back-and-forth with Phoenix Suns guard Dillon Brooks in Game 2’s 120-107 win. The Thunder grabbed a 2-0 lead against the Suns in its best-of-7 first-round series, where Gilgeous-Alexander laughed and pointed at Brooks after sinking a shot over him.
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Gilgeous-Alexander addressed his first-half incident with Brooks during his postgame media availability.
“He was just doing his usual antics. Then, I scored on him. I let him hear it a little bit,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, before responding to Brooks’ postgame comments made accusing SGA of “flailing” and flopping. “I can’t control what Dillon or anybody else, on the otherside is gonna complain about. All I can do is try to go out there and win basketball games for my team. I mean, Dillon’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s supposed to bring energy to the game.
Rile up the game. Once again, he did a great job of bringing energy to the game tonight. Super fun out there, and I love playing against him.”
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 37 points on 13-for-25 shooting, including a pair of threes, nine assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Dillon Brooks’ 30 points led the Suns.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander praises Chet Holmgren after Thunder win
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave Chet Holmgren his flowers after closing out Game 2 without starting forward Jalen Williams. When the Suns trimmed their 25-point deficit to 17 in the opening five minutes of the final frame, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault reinserted all of his starters minus Williams, who suffered a left hamstring injury in the third quarter, and never returned.
After the Suns got their deficit down to 10, Holmgren helped the Thunder string together defensive stops, including his fourth block of the night, before Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champions to a 13-point win. Gilgeous-Alexander reminded everyone that it’s no coincidence the Thunder has never finished lower than first place in the Western Conference standings without Holmgren.
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“I’m gonna sound like a broken record, but since the day that Chet Holmgren played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, we’ve been the first seed in the West,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “It’s no coincidence. He makes plays, and he anchors the best defense in the league.”
Holmgren finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks against the Suns.
Related: How Suns can extend Thunder playoff series by stealing Game 3 after controversial Game 2
Related: Jalen Williams’ injury has Oklahoma City fans nervous, but Thunder are still NBA Finals favorites
