Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the top rising players in the NBA. He finished top five in the MVP voting last season and could potentially finish higher this season. He's gotten off to a good start this season but had not yet encountered a team like the Denver Nuggets yet this year. He finished with only seven points in the Thunder's 128-95 loss to the Nuggets on Sunday and spoke about it after the game via Brandon Rahbar of The Daily Thunder.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot only 2-16 from the field in the Thunder loss to the Nuggets at home. He was 0-4 from three point range and 3-4 from the free throw line. Through the Thunder's first two games of the season, Gilgeous-Alexander was averaging only 3.5 attempts from the free throw line.

Last season he averaged a career-high 10.9 attempts from the line and has never averaged anything less than five attempts from the line since his rookie season. In any case, this game might have been a good test to see how Gilgeous-Alexander fares against an elite defense.

Through the Thunder's first two games, Gilgeous-Alexander has been averaging 32.5 points per game, 8.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.5 blocked shots with splits of 61.4 percent shooting from the field, 57.1 percent shooting from the three point line and 100 percent shooting from the free throw line.

The Thunder have one of the most exciting young cores in the NBA and can make a serious push this year for a playoff spot. Last season they finished in the play-in and advanced to the next round after beating the New Orleans Pelicans. They ultimately missed the postseason losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the play-in.