Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t blame fatigue for his performance in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers despite being held to three points on 1-of-3 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“You got to suck it up,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on Thursday. “There’s a maximum four games left in the season. It’s what you worked the whole season for. It’s what you worked all summer for. To me, the way I see it, you got to suck it up, get it done and try to get a win.”
The Pacers outscored the Thunder 32-18 in the fourth quarter of Game 3.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 24 points and four assists. He had six turnovers, the most he’s committed in the playoffs this year.
Gilgeous-Alexander was picked up 65.5 feet from the basketball when bringing up the ball in Game 3, the furthest of his career. He also only brought the ball up 23 times, the second fewest this postseason.
The Pacers also blitzed Gilgeous-Alexander 12 times, the most he’s ever faced in a playoff game. They also made him the primary defender on 22 field goal attempts, also the most of his playoff career.
Gilgeous-Alexander added that the Pacers’ activity wasn’t tiring him out.
“I’m not too sure. I don’t think so,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s a physical game. We’ve had plenty of physical games. We’ve had games like that where I’ve been great late, games where I’ve stunk late. I don’t think it was anything out the blue, anything I hadn’t seen before.”
