With a chance to clinch a championship, the Oklahoma City Thunder turned in a clunker of a performance.
“The way I see it is we sucked tonight,” Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after the 108-91 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Thursday’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals. “We need to learn the lessons, and we have one game for everything we worked for, and so do they. The better team Sunday will win.”
Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the Thunder starters will be well-rested for Sunday’s Game 7. They sat out the fourth quarter, exiting when the Pacers had a 30-point lead.
It was a particularly sloppy performance by the MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander committed eight of Oklahoma City’s 21 turnovers.
The eight turnovers were the most Gilgeous-Alexander has had in a playoff game and matched his regular-season career high. It also matched the most in a Finals game in at least 40 years, according to ESPN Research.
“Some of them I just think was carelessness and not being focused and not being engaged,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who had finished with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting and had only two assists. “They played harder than us tonight as well, and when a team plays harder, they usually turn the other team over.”
“Now, we didn’t play like it at all,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s why the night went the way that it did. We got exactly what we deserved, what we earned. We have to own that.”
