The Thunder are slowly proving their worth as a true-title contender this season in the NBA, especially after Tuesday’s dominant display which saw them beat the Celtics 127 to 123. After the game, most of the Boston roster dedicated strong words of admiration for the Oklahoma City squad, especially Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren.
Boston’s Derrick White believes that the Thunder are the team to beat this season as everyone is “trying to figure out” how to beat them this campaign.
“Shai’s one of the best in the league,” White first said about Gilgeous-Alexander. “They do a good job of creating confusion and testing our communication and everything. So they’re a tough team to guard and I think the whole league is trying to figure it out.”
According to the Boston guard, the Canadian star is leading his pack after producing a 36-point performance this week. The Thunder player also won 6 rebounds, handed out 7 assists, and shot 14-of-22 from the field, 3-of-5 from the three-point line and 5-of-8 from free throws after 36 minutes of play.
“He’s one of the best players in the league,” White insisted. “I feel like every game he gets to his spot and makes a play. So obviously we’ve got to see what went wrong and try to correct it. He’s one of the best players in the league and proved it today.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is currently the third-best scorer in the NBA and in points per game. He is also third in field goals and second in player efficiency rating. However, his most impressive skills are coming from the defensive-side of the floor, as he’s first in total steals and in steals per game.
Oklahoma City now possess the second-best record in the Western Conference with an outstanding 23-10 record.
Boston star Kristaps Porzingis admitted he was surprised by rookie Chet Holmgren’s dominance
After Oklahoma beat Boston on Tuesday night, many opponents expressed their admiration for Chet Holmgren after he scored 14 points, delivered 4 blocks, won 3 rebounds and handed out 7 assists.
Big man Kristaps Porzingis is now convinced that his young opponent is the real deal. “I love his mindset,” he started out. “Just by the way he plays I can tell he’s a hard worker and he’s playing really hard.”
The Latvian star even admitted feeling surprised after the contest. “He’s already effective playing with a really good team,” he concluded postgame.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 3rd among guards in All-Star voting
Chet Holmgren sits at 9th pic.twitter.com/fuoCl5qK9g
— TF (@ThunderFocus) January 4, 2024
In a recent appearance on “The Big Podcast”, Shaquille O’Neal shared the reasons why he believes the exact same thing as Holmgren, as he dismissed the notion that labels the youngster as a “phenomenal” athlete.
“Y’all throwin’ around words that we had to work hard for,” he said. “Phenomenal’s not the right word…He’s good, but don’t be going ‘promising’ and ‘great’ and ‘future Hall of Famer.’ Startin’ today, I’m puttin’ an end to all that s**t. I am, startin’ today. Y’all can’t just be giving these people things who ain’t put in no work.”
