Oklahoma City Thunder talisman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shrugged off his career-high 45 points as he suggested the showing "didn't feel special". (More Sports News)
Gilgeous-Alexander's 14th career 40-point game inspired the Thunder to a 134-126 victory o꧅ver the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
Yet Gilgeous-Alexander did not want to play up the importance of his haul, as he instead focuses on pushing for a dee🌠per postseason run this t🐬ime around.
"It🙈 didn't feel special," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"It didn't feel like I did something I'd never done before. Just felt like another basketball game. I felt like I should have had more, missed some easy shots, but [that's] the ga💛me.
"I don't say this to slight ꧙my teammates, but I feel like the end of our season last year in the playoffs, obviously for a lot of them, it was the first time in the playoffs and playing games tha♍t meaningful.
"I don't want to say they weren't ready, but I feel like I could have equipped them better throughout the year in taking [certain] shots, getting to spots and being more comfortable in certai🧜n positions on the court, especially offensively.
"I feel like in the playoffs we we🐓re good defensively and offensiv𝕴ely is why we lost. And part of my job is to make sure that my teammates are confident and are ready for big moments."
Gilgeous-🍌Alexander had to step up against the Clippers, given his star teammate Chet Holmgren faces up to two months out due to a hip injury.
He is the first player in the Thunder's🐽 franchise history to record at least 45 points and five steals in a single game, and he explained how he was set o𒈔n getting Oklahoma City back on track after their defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in last season's playoffs.
"When we lost, I thought about why we lost anܫd obviously there's so many things to nitpick," Gilgeous-Alexander said, with th꧟e Thunder having gone 9-2 to start the season.
"But I can only control what 🐷I can control, and I try to look at it from through that lens.
"♑A lot of people don't re🌊cognize it until it's too late. And I don't want it to be too late, so I tried to hit it on the head early."
