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In their 118-104 NBA Cup quarter-final victory against the Dallas Mavericks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder sent a message to the rest of the NBA, according to ESPN's Kendrick Perkins. Perhaps that's the reason for Gilgeous-Alexander's playoff-feel remark after eliminating the Mavericks on Tuesday. SGA's impressive 39-point performance on 15-of-23 shooting, including five threes, compelled Perkins to give Shai an eye-opening label.
Perkins called Gilgeous-Alexander one of the best “unguardable” scorers he's ever seen, per ESPN's NBA Today.
“When it comes down to having that craftiness in his game, he's one of the best I've ever seen in my entire life,” Perkins said. “He's the most unguardable perimeter player in the game.”
Gilgeous-Alexander's triumphant nationally-televised performance that carried the Thunder into the NBA Cup semifinals was on full display. Oklahoma City dismantled the defending Western Conference champions, avenging its Western Conference semifinal loss from last year's playoffs, while sending a message across the league, according to Perk.
“They punked the Dallas Mavericks and set a message to the rest of the league that says, hey, we're them dudes,” Perkins added. “And I guarantee you, if I was in that locker room, I know the message: physicality. They get physical all across the board, and I love it so much. Look, the way it's looking, OKC and the Celtics are going to be matching up in June.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder favorites to win the West
Hall of Fame power forward and NBA analyst Charles Barkley says the Thunder are favorites to win the Western Conference, while Kendrick Perkins arrived at the same conclusion on ESPN. Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has much to do with that as the team's franchise pillar.
Perkins' colleague, Shams Charania, highlighted the Thunder's unique path of surrounding their star with a championship-caliber roster to compete on ESPN's NBA Today.
“They have their roster set, and what they've done, you see what's happening in Orlando right now, same thing happening in Oklahoma City,” Charania said. “You build it organically [and] they've made moves around the edges. Isaiah Hartenstein, they got him with salary cap space. Alex Caruso, they got him with a player on their roster that they felt was not going to be in their picture long-term moving forward: Josh Giddey. And they have all of their draft picks. Still, they have a dozen first-round draft picks.”
The Thunder could trade for any readily available superstar looking for a new team. However, it won't be necessary with the best record in the Western Conference (19-5) and youth on their side.
