"Every time you play the Boston Celtics, you get a playoff feel no matter what day it is, who is out there. They're super well-coached, they have really good players. I think it's one of the premier organizations in the league to play against. They bring it every night. They have a culture. They check all the boxes and that's why they've been successful over the past few years."
Gilgeous-Alexander is not on the official injury report released Thursday evening, meaning he will be available for Friday's home game against the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder went 5-4 in the stretch missed by Gilgeous-Alexander, who suffered the injury during a Feb. 3 win over the Orlando Magic.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having another outstanding season as he is scoring 32.0 points per game with 6.2 assists, and he is shooting 55.6% from the field. SGA has helped the Thunder to a 38-11 record, which is the best mark in the NBA. The Thunder have lost three of four, and fans are wondering if that will help any other player close the gap in the race for the MVP.
Brandon Miller scored 28 points and the Charlotte Hornets stunned the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 124-97 on Monday night. Kon Knueppel added 23 points for the Hornets, who had lost three of four before handing Oklahoma City its worst loss of the season. It was a season-low point total for the Thunder and the only time they have failed to score 100 points.
"The goal for tonight was to get in a rhythm, but it's an adjustment," Williams said. "Game 7 was, what, five months ago? Almost six. Trying to adjust to the physicality now was a little different. A lot of it was just rhythm -- trying not to do too much, just finding the spots where I was comfortable five months ago."
Unlike the blowout loss in Atlanta last Saturday, it appeared the Lakers were at least mentally prepared to compete against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. The problem in the 121-92 loss was that they simply could not keep up. Reigning most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points on 10 for 18 shooting with nine assists. The Lakers' own MVP hopeful Luka Doncic had 19 points, making just seven of 20 shots with seven assists and four turnovers.
We haven't played well since the second week of the season, Kerr said. I've got to do a better job, and find the keys that can get us some confidence back. The Warriors started quickly thanks to seven early points from Curry, who was returning from an illness after missing the past three games. But they trailed 34-25 after one quarter, and 63-44 at halftime.
